Amyntas Rock Tombs

Fethiye stands on ancient Telmessos, and the cliff behind the town is cut with Lycian rock tombs, the largest of them dated to around 350 BCE and known as the Tomb of Amyntas from a Greek inscription reading "Amyntas son of Hermapias" carved beside the door. The facade is a full Ionic temple front rendered in the living rock - two columns, architrave, pediment, and a carved door with panels and studs imitating a wooden one, the whole thing cut downward into the cliff rather than built up. Others stand along the same face in various states, and Lycian sarcophagi with their distinctive keel-shaped lids are scattered through the streets of the town below, some wedged between modern buildings. The climb is a few hundred steps and the reward, besides the tombs, is the view over Fethiye's harbour and bay. The tombs are floodlit after dark and visible from the town.

What to look for

• The Amyntas facade - the Ionic temple front cut into the cliff.
• The carved door - stone imitating wooden panels and studs.
• The neighbouring tombs - others along the same rock face.
• The bay view - Fethiye harbour from the terrace.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Late afternoon for light on the facade and the view; the climb is hard in midday heat.

Practical notes

It is a stiff stairway climb with no shade. The tombs are fenced and interiors are not entered. Half an hour at the top covers it, and it is really a viewpoint with a monument.

Nearby

Kayaköy is eight kilometres south; Ölüdeniz and Babadağ are beyond it.