Xanthos
Xanthos Pillar Tombs
At less than 2 km beyond Letoön,
close to the village of Kınık,
is the ruined city of Xanthos, once the capital and grandest city of Lycia.
During the 19th century the site was discovered by Sir Charles
Fellows, a British traveller, and
as it was the custom at that time, the site was stripped of many of its
monuments which were taken to the British Museum.
The most beautijful work which was transported to London, was undoubtedly the famous
Nereid monument. It was a large Lycian tomb in the form of a temple,
dating from about 400 BC displaying a mix of Greek and Lycian styles.
Homer mentions the Xanthians as being allies of the
Trojans. In mythology Xanthos was connected with the story of Bellerophon
and the winged horse Pegasus. During history on many occasions, the
Xanthians demonstrated the fierce independence of the Lycian people.
Rather than comitting to invading forces they destroyed their acropolis and
cities, killed their wives, children and slaves in the fires and finally
proceeded on a suicidal attack against the invader.
We started our visit at the famous "Xanthian Obelisk",
labeled as "Inscribed Pillar". This is one of the most important remains at
Xanthos. It is a pillar-tomb which derives its fame from the inscription in
Lycian and Greek which covers all four faces of the stone. Our understanding
of the difficult Lycian language is based on these inscriptions.
South of the Xanthian Obelisk there is the remarkably
preserved Roman theatre with next to it the famous Harpy monument
flanked by a Lycian tower tomb. The Harpies monument or Harpy tomb was once
topped with a marble chamber which was taken to the British Museum by
Charles Fellows in 1842. The marbles have now been replaced by clay copies
of the originals thus restoring part of the beauty of the originals. The
plates are decorated by interesting reliefs showing figures from mythology
such as the harpies bird-women. Beside the Harpy Tomb is a Lycian
sarcophagus which stands on a pillar. More to the South are the remains of
the Lycian acropolis with the ruins of a square building, believed to be
the palace of the early kings of Xanthos.
To the East there is the Roman acropolis with the remains of
a Byzantine
basilica. It is a three aisles basilica with its floor covered with mosaics.
Further to the East, there is the Belly-Dancer's sarcophagus dating from the
4th century BC. The long faces of the sarcophagus' lid are
decorated with battle and hunting scenes, while
the lid's two narrow faces show two
belly dancers turning towards each other. This is the
reason why this sarcophagus is called the
Belly-Dancers' Sarcophagus.
More information on Xanthos can be found
here.
Click on the thumbnails to get a greater picture
