Tlos

Tlos was one of the oldest and most important cities of Lycia, occupied continuously from the second millennium BCE into the Ottoman period, and it sits on a rocky spur above the Xanthos valley with the Akdağ mountains behind. The cliff below the acropolis is honeycombed with rock-cut tombs, the finest of them a temple-fronted tomb with a relief of Bellerophon riding Pegasus - the hero was associated with Tlos, and the carving is the site's signature. On the summit is a fortress rebuilt in the nineteenth century by a local Ottoman governor known as Bloody Ali, which is why the acropolis carries an Ottoman castle on Lycian foundations. Below are a stadium, a large bath complex with an apsidal hall known as Yedi Kapı open to the valley view, a theatre with substantial seating and carved blocks lying about, an agora and a basilica. The site is spread out and involves real climbing.

History

Finds in the city centre and in the nearby caves of Girmeler and Tavabaşı suggest that settlement began more than 4,000 years ago, and the city appears as Tlawa in Lycian inscriptions and as Dalawa in Hittite sources of the 15th century BC. It came under Persian rule when Harpagus invaded Lycia in 540 BC and prospered from the 5th to the late 4th century BC; in the Hellenistic period it was one of the six principal cities of the Lycian League, which Rome freed from dependence on Rhodes in 168 BC, and its citizens were grouped into demes named after the Lycian heroes Bellerophon, Iobates and Sarpedon. Under Rome it was styled the "very brilliant metropolis of the Lycian nation". An earthquake in 141 AD brought down many monuments, rebuilt with money from Opramoas of Rhodiapolis and another benefactor, and a second earthquake did great damage in 240; a Jewish community with its own magistrates also lived here (Wikipedia, Tlos).

What's there

• The Bellerophon tomb - the relief of the hero on Pegasus.
• The cliff tombs - rock-cut facades below the acropolis.
• The Ottoman fortress - the castle on the Lycian summit.
• The baths and theatre - the Roman city on the slope below.

When to go

April to June and September to October, in the morning. Spring brings wildflowers and snow still on the Akdağ behind; summer is very hot with little shade.

Before you go

The acropolis climb is steep and rough. Tomb interiors are reached by scrambling and some are fenced. A car is needed - public transport does not usefully serve the site.

Nearby

Saklıkent gorge is a short drive; Pınara is south down the valley and Xanthos beyond.

Key facts