Feeling the need for a dose of history, as if just living amongst it here isn’t enough, I made another visit to the ancient city of Arykanda on Sunday. It’s quite a curious place, evidence suggests that it was initially built in the 5th Century B.C. by the Lycians then some parts had to be rebuilt by the Greeks and then again by the Romans and was used up to the 11th Century A.D. when the settlement moved down by what became the old main road.
We always seem to have marked periods of our history by wars and invasions, at least that’s how it seems to me and I always find it sad that we needed to protect ourselves from from attackers and invaders by building fortified places to live. It’s a great shame that we couldn’t live peaceably but an even greater shame that we usually obliterated the civilisation and history of a people that we attacked and defeated. If we had kept and preserved the knowledge and discoveries of conquered peoples how much more rich would our lives be now?
Imagine how tough life must have been, not only was it hard enough to farm and grow enough to sustain ourselves but there was the constant worry of whether a marauding band of ne’er do wells bent on death, destruction, rape and pillage was just over the horizon heading straight for your village. No surprise that folk chose to build places that could be better defended and of course to begin with they chose the most inaccessible place available, and that brings me to Arykanda. It is situated on a very steep slope right under a huge vertical cliff, just to wander around it’s different levels requires the agility and lungs of a mountain goat (of which there are plenty but you can’t get near them), indeed the slope is so steep that there wasn’t room for a complete stadium so they had to build a half stadium with seats only on one side, a steep drop fifty feet down to the theatre being on the other side. Still the gladiators could throw each other off the edge if the crowd gave the thumbs down, I don’t suppose they had many lions or other wild animals there though, what with one side of the stadium being completely open.
Another thing that I wondered about while getting my breath back was the lack of ordinary peoples’ houses. The pamphlet that accompanies the receipt for your entry fee mentions an area that is thought to have been the original residential area of the city, there are a couple of other areas where there are a few houses but these were stone built and would not have housed everybody.
These cities always have the bath houses, temples and markets etc. and even the small theatres are usually built to seat an audience of at least six thousand, that seems to be the standard entry level theatre size, but where did all these people live? Nowhere have I seen any housing, or the remains of it, for the workers, the poor guys cutting all this rock and lugging it up vertiginous slopes to make a nice bath complex for the rich people to luxuriate in, for example. It seems to me to be very likely that the lower status housing would have been simply and cheaply constructed of wood and mud, materials that degraded and were absorbed back into the land due to the weather. Anyway it was a nice day out, we took the very pleasant back road from Çukurbağ through Kasaba, Dirgenler and Çamlıbel and had a pleasant lunch at the main road watering hole afterwards.
Arycanda (Arykanda) is a unique Lycian city, built upon five large terraces ascending a mountain slope, and was known for having the most pleasure and entertainment-loving (and debt-ridden) citizens. The city overlooks a magnificent valley and its view makes it one of the most spectacular sites in Lycia.Located near the small village of Aykiriçay, on the Elmali-Finike road.
Arycanda is known to be one of
the oldest Lycian sites - its name ends with -anda, indicitive of its Anatolian
origin dating back as far as the second millennium BC. Some of the oldest coins
of Lycia (5th c. BC were also found here during a recent digging; the site is
under continuous excavation.
Gods and goddesses known to have
been worshipped here are: Apollo, Ares, Artemis (in the forms of Kombike,
Lagbene, Tharsenike and Eleuthera), Athena, Kakasbos (an Anatolian
horseman-deity), Hera, Helios, Mithras, Tyche, Asklepios, Hygeia, Hercules,
Hermes, Aphrodite, Somondeus (a mountain god), and Nemesis .Arycanda survived through Byzantine times, until the 9th century when the settlement moved to a new site south of the modern road.
Excavations and restoration work in recent years have succeeded in unearthing a beautiful city, well-organized with the look of an architectural model.
Luckily for us, whether due to landslides, earthquakes or the difficulty for robbers in getting material down to the sea (there were sites nearer to the sea for that), Arycanda has not lost much of its large-scale materials except for the columns of the agora. Also, with no large settlement nearby in later years, many things have been spared the lime-kilns, at least none have been found on site yet. Since much of the site has been protected by landslips, the limestone of Arycanda's buildings looks quite fresh.
Some features of this magnificent city include:
Largest bath complex in Lycia, on the lowest terrace, still virtually intact in its sequence of arches, next to the gymnasium.
Agora, some of the shops in its eastern part can still be seen. It is wide and flat, located to the south of the odeon and was enclosed on three sides by a portico.
Amphitheatre, in excellent condition, built during the 2nd century AD. 20 rows of seats, divided into 7 sections. At the edge of every row are holes that were used to support protective awnings.
Odeon - 2nd century AD. The main entrance is to the south, though a triple portal. This was once a very ornate building, the interior was lined with orthostats and the walls, orchestra and seats were once covered with coloured marble. A frieze over the portal bears a portrait of the Emperor Hadrian flanked by cartouches bearing masks and heads of deities in relief.
Stadium, from the Hellenistic period, above the theatre, in the form of a running track. It is smaller than a usual stadium, measuring 106 m. long and 17 m. wide. A few step-like seats on its north side are all that remain of the stadium.
Necropolises, there are two of them, and the one on the entrance to the site is very interesting with its series of richly decorated funerary monuments. The eastern necropolis has barrel-vaulted monumental tombs, temple-tombs and sarcophagi and the western necropolis has rock-cut tombs and barrel-valuted tombs.
Bouleuterion, where the council met, located on the northwest slope of the city at the end of a 137 metre long stoa. The building is set into a mountain slope, with rows of seats cut into living rock.
Located along the western slope of Aykırıçay (the ancient Arykandos River) near Arif Village, exactly in the middle of Elmalı-Finike motorway. The oldest documents found are coins from the period of Limyra King Perikles. Once ruled by Alexander, the city passed into Seleucids after Ptolemaios; after Apamea peace it was controlled by Rhodes. In the 2nd century BC, Arykanda produced coins as a city included in Lykia Confederation. It was annexed to Rome in 43 AD, after Emperor Claudius put an end to the Lykia Confederation. The city was partially rebuilt after an earthquake in 240 AD. Its name became Akalanda during Byzantine rule. The city, which we know through its remains and Byzantine documents, is known to have existed until the 11th century, after which it was relocated.
There is a stadium in the uppermost terrace of the city, which displays a residential form of terraces. Among the visible ruins of this ancient city are the Odeon Theatre, agora, agora stoa, small bath, gymnasium, bouleterion, cistern, inscription house and a fountain.
It’s an archaeological site near the Aykırıçay district of Arif Village, located in the middle of Elmalı – Finike motorway. There is no information based on archaeological or written resources about the city’s founding, but since Arykanda is philogically a native name; it is known to be an ancient settlement area. Considering the ‘Anda’ suffix, it can be assumed that this city existed since 2000 BC. Natives of the period are known to have referred to Arykanda as ‘Arykawanda’. The work of Dr. Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu, a professor at Ankara University, has been especially valuable in the excavations of Arykanda ancient city.
In one of the uppermost terraces of Arykanda there is a stadium with a one-sided seating area; its running track becomes a trapeze shape after a certain point. A small but very well preserved theatre can be found in the terrace one level below the stadium, which is connected to lower terraces by a stairway near its centre. In the lower terrace of the theatre, there is an Odeon with a stairway connecting to it. A U-shaped porch in front of the Odeon surrounds the agora. Sarcophagi can be found outside tomb vaults in the necropolis.
There is a large bath remained intact up to its second floor in the lowest terrace of tomb buildings. Some of the most fascinating ruins of the city are the waterways on rocks, near Aykırıçay Spring.
There is a large bath remained intact up to its second floor in the lowest terrace of tomb buildings. Some of the most fascinating ruins of the city are the waterways on rocks, near Aykırıçay Spring.
Arykanda, in Lycia in southern Turkey, is an ancient city built on five large terraces that ascend a steep slope and overlook a magnificent valley. The city dates back to the seventh century B.C., but most of its remaining ruins date from between the fifth century B.C. and the Roman period, when the city enjoyed its greatest prosperity. After the city was severely damaged in an earthquake in the third century A.D., it was largely abandoned and left untouched for more than a thousand years. The level of preservation is incredible, according to Jennifer Tobin, an archaeologist with the University of Illinois in Chicago. She compares Arykanda to the more famous ruins of Delphi in Greece—only bigger and without all the tourists. Tobin, a specialist in the archaeology of Turkey, was shocked when she first saw Arykanda. "When you see the site, you really feel like a nineteenth-century traveler who just happened upon the site for the first time," she says. "It is a truly magical place."
The site
Arykanda’s wealth came from lumber—it was a source for much of the ancient world and was located on a river, where the wood could be sailed down to the sea to be sold. Today, the ruins of the city climb steeply up the hillside, and visitors can ascend the original stairs. Near the entrance, visitors will see the "street of tombs," a roadway lined with richly decorated monuments. On the terraces, among other structures, are seven bath complexes, an agora where the remains of shops can still be seen, a well-preserved theater, and an odeon where a frieze bearing a portrait of the emperor Hadrian was found. Above that is a stadium with tremendous views of the valley below. Free of crowds, it’s an excellent place for a picnic, says Tobin.
While you are there
When you’re done touring the site—you’ll need at least three hours to cover it completely, says Tobin—walk a little bit inland to see a cascading waterfall, one of the natural springs that used to supply the city’s water. There, local farmers and truckers mill about in the shade, enjoying ice cream, fruit, nuts, and beverages from concession stands. The locals will be thrilled to have you, says Tobin, and normally offer some of their food or drink. Arykanda is on the Finike-Elmali Road. Following its "Elmali" signs through the plain of Finike will bring you to the riverside Altintas restaurant for fish and grilled meat. If you plan to stay overnight, there are hotels in nearby Antaly, Kemar, or Kosh.
The site
Arykanda’s wealth came from lumber—it was a source for much of the ancient world and was located on a river, where the wood could be sailed down to the sea to be sold. Today, the ruins of the city climb steeply up the hillside, and visitors can ascend the original stairs. Near the entrance, visitors will see the "street of tombs," a roadway lined with richly decorated monuments. On the terraces, among other structures, are seven bath complexes, an agora where the remains of shops can still be seen, a well-preserved theater, and an odeon where a frieze bearing a portrait of the emperor Hadrian was found. Above that is a stadium with tremendous views of the valley below. Free of crowds, it’s an excellent place for a picnic, says Tobin.
While you are there
When you’re done touring the site—you’ll need at least three hours to cover it completely, says Tobin—walk a little bit inland to see a cascading waterfall, one of the natural springs that used to supply the city’s water. There, local farmers and truckers mill about in the shade, enjoying ice cream, fruit, nuts, and beverages from concession stands. The locals will be thrilled to have you, says Tobin, and normally offer some of their food or drink. Arykanda is on the Finike-Elmali Road. Following its "Elmali" signs through the plain of Finike will bring you to the riverside Altintas restaurant for fish and grilled meat. If you plan to stay overnight, there are hotels in nearby Antaly, Kemar, or Kosh.
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