History, Life of adventure, Road Trips, Travel

The Ancient City of Xanthos

Suzanne

On a hot summer’s day in mid-June, we headed off into the countryside to explore the ruins of Xanthos.  It is strategically placed on a hilltop, rewarding us with fantastic views, especially during the bright, leafy months of early summer.

Driving to the car park, which was on the other side of the hill, we parked, then brought our ticket.  Then proceeded to walk to the first part of the ruins.  At the beginning of our walk, we were fortunate enough to have a chat, albeit a short one, with an old-timer who has spent over 25 years hanging out at this ancient site talking to people who will give their time to listen to him. He became our unofficial guide and, at times, switched between a few different languages. It made the tour quite interesting and entertaining.  One which we were very grateful to experience.

Below is a quick summary of the violent history of Xanthos, which is now a UNESCO site.

The Xanthosians twice demonstrated the fierce independence of the Lycian people when they chose to commit mass suicide rather than submit to invading forces. The Xanthosian men set fire to their women, children, slaves and treasure upon the Acropolis before making their final doomed attack upon the invading Persians. Xanthos was later repopulated, but the same gruesome story repeated itself in 42 BC when Brutus struck the city during the Roman Civil War to recruit troops and raise money.   The poem below was found on a tablet in the Xanthos excavations, translated by Azra Erhat.

We made our houses graves.
And our graves are homes to us
Our houses burned down
And our graves were looted
We climbed to the summits
We went deep into the earth
We were drenched in water
They came and got us
They burned and destroyed us
They plundered us
And we,
For the sake of our mothers,
Our women,
And for the sake of our dead,
And we,
In the name of our honour,
And our freedom,
We, the people of this land,
Who sought mass suicide
We left a fire behind us,
Never to die out.

Brutus was shocked by the Lycians’ suicide and offered his soldiers a reward for each Xanthosian saved. Only 150 citizens were rescued.  As with most of the world’s history, this story was to repeat itself.  It seems to me we are destined to never learn from history.  Which is disheartening on so many levels.

The Amphitheatre – A Roman-style theatre. More French parts are still being unearthed by a French Archaeology team.

What better way to get a ‘feel’ of a place and contemplate the history of what happened on the site of a lost city.

Standing at the top of the hill, we were also rewarded with a fantastic landscape view, reminding us of the natural beauty of Turkey.

The famous Xanthian Obelisk (V century BC) is a giant slab of stone where the longest inscription in the Lycian language of 250 lines is carved.

The Roman Path – with Roman artefacts on either side of it.

The tombs were carved into the hillside rock.

The Kilise Church – this is the only part of this whole site that is fenced.  No doubt due to the threat of vandalism?.

The modern history of Xanthos, Turkey, began in 1842 with the appearance of the British traveller Charles Fellows. He spent a few months in the ruins of the city collecting the best-preserved statues and sculptures so now most of them can be seen in London’s British Museum.  So, if you can’t make it to Turkey, you could visit the Museum in London to see a fraction of what once lay in an ancient site thousands of miles away.   Though somehow, that just doesn’t feel quite right, does it?

Published by Suzanne

Travel and Life Musings from New Zealand and Beyond. . . . . . .

19 thoughts on “The Ancient City of Xanthos”

    1. Thanks, Pooja, you are so right, it is lovely to chat with a local who has a passion for the area. He is certainly making use of his knowledge and time.

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    1. It was the first one we have visited which has a view of more than just the Roman era. Yes, it was certainly an education viewing it and then reading up more about it. I’m sure it is not an archaeological site that many people would know about.

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    1. Yes, Jan it was a sad event in history. Life was certainly hard in those days! I think there were 2 other couples and a few workers there at the same time as us. I have become quite good at getting photos without too many people in them. Privacy reasons for them mostly and I want to see the view and not a stranger 🙂 The guide was great and very patient to wait around for people to arrive.
      Suz

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    1. Thanks, Liesbet, there are so many to see and I think we saw quite a bit on our roadtrip, with giving each place enough time to explore and take it all in!
      Suz

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    1. Thanks Anabel. Another way of looking at it, is that the Museum is preserving it, as they no doubt have more funds to do so than over here.
      Suz

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    1. You are welcome, Deb, yes it is one ancient city which has had many a battle fought on its land. Nothing much has changed over the centuries, just how the fighting has been executed.
      Suz

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    1. Thanks you two, yes Turkey has got many historical sites that most people have not heard of let alone visited. It’s always sunny here in summer! I hate to say I am looking forward to some cooler weather and maybe even a rainy day 🙂

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