Kibyra

Kibyra was the head of a small league of cities in the mountains between Lycia, Caria and Phrygia, wealthy from horses and ironwork, and its ruins lie along a ridge above the modern town of Gölhisar. Two things bring people. The stadium, cut into the slope and largely intact with its seating rows, carries relief carvings of gladiators and their equipment on some of the blocks - unusual, and a reminder of what the building was used for. And the odeon, a roofed council and performance hall, has a floor of opus sectile - cut coloured marble - with a large Medusa head at its centre, discovered in the 2000s and now among the finest such floors known; it is covered for protection and shown under a roof. Around them are a theatre, agora, baths and a long colonnaded street. The site is high, open and quiet, excavation continues, and it sits on Turkey's UNESCO tentative list.

The main sights

• The Medusa floor - cut marble in the odeon, under cover.
• The stadium - intact seating with gladiator reliefs.
• The theatre and agora - the civic buildings along the ridge.
• The ridge setting - the plain and lake below Gölhisar.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Mornings; the ridge is exposed with no shade and the plateau is hot in summer.

Good to know

The Medusa floor is under a protective structure and viewing is controlled. Excavation fences off areas. A car is needed and the track up is rough. Few facilities.

Nearby

Sagalassos is north-east in the same province; Fethiye and the coast are south over the mountains.

Key facts