The Xanthian Obelisk
A pillar inscribed in three ancient languages carrying the longest Lycian text ever found, still standing where it was raised.
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Twice in its history the people of Xanthos burned their own city and died in it rather than surrender: once before the Persian army around 540 BC, once before the Romans in 42 BC. That story is what stays with you after the visit, more than any stone, because what remains of the great Lycian capital on its hill above the Eşen river is less than the «World Heritage Site» label it has shared with Letoon since 1988 might suggest. The reason is that the finest things from Xanthos are not at Xanthos. From 1842 the British traveller Charles Fellows shipped the reliefs of the Harpy Tomb and then the entire Nereid Monument to London, where they are now among the British Museum's treasures. What you see here are cement casts on the pillar tomb and an empty base where the monument stood. There is still plenty to reward the climb: a Roman theatre whose lower tiers you can sit on, the Xanthian Obelisk carved in three languages (Lycian, Greek and Milyan) and the longest Lycian text ever found, and the Lycian acropolis with the whole river valley spread beneath it. The Byzantine church's mosaic floors may well be covered over for their own protection, so don't build the visit around them. Getting here from Kaş is easy: about 45 km west on the coastal D400 through Kalkan, roughly 50 minutes by car, and the road is half the pleasure as it rides high above the sea and passes Kaputaş beach. The Fethiye-bound dolmuş drops you in Kınık village, from where it is a 1 km walk uphill. The site is exposed, with no real shade except inside the theatre, so an August visit means water, a hat and an early start; in spring the hill is green and in flower. Paths are rough and unpaved, no good for a pushchair, and small children will be bored once the theatre is done. At three euros the ticket is almost symbolic, which makes Xanthos an easy stop to fold into a full day: an hour and a half here, then Letoon 4 km south, then Patara and its long beach on the way back. If Lycian history genuinely interests you, read up on the two sieges before you climb, because the site itself won't tell you.
A pillar inscribed in three ancient languages carrying the longest Lycian text ever found, still standing where it was raised.
The lower tiers are still good for sitting, and behind them the Lycian acropolis looks out over the whole Eşen valley.
A pillar tomb about 7.5 m tall; the reliefs on it are casts, the originals having been in the British Museum since the 1840s.
Kınık village, Fethiye–Kaş road (D400), Antalya
Yes as part of the same day, not as a separate outing. Patara is bigger, more dramatic and has a beach; Xanthos takes an hour and a half, has a story you won't find elsewhere and costs three euros. If time is short and Lycian history doesn't interest you, Patara alone is enough.
Xanthos. Letoon is smaller and its three temples often stand in water for much of the year, so you need closed shoes. The two sites are only 4 km apart, so the best answer is both in about two and a half hours if you can manage it.
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