The area now designated the Antalya province is the general center of classical Lycia. Milas was included by some writers in the district, but the more important cities seem to have been Patara (Gelemls) in the Xanthus Valley, Telmessus (Fethiye), and Myra (Demre). Perhaps it is Lycians who are mentioned in an Egyptian account of the Hittite battle at Kadesh. They may also be the Luqqa of fourteenth and thirteenth century Hittite documents.
Lycia was a geopolitical region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey, and Burdur Province inland. Known to history since the records of ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, it was populated by speakers of the Luwian language group. Written records began to be inscribed in stone in the Lycian language (a later form of Luwian) after Lycia’s involuntary incorporation into the Achaemenid Empire in the Iron Age. At that time (546 BC) the Luwian speakers were decimated, and Lycia received an influx of Iranian speakers.
Lycia fought for the Persians in the Persian Wars, but on the defeat of the Achaemenid Empire by the Greeks, it became intermittently a free agent. After a brief membership in the Athenian Empire, it seceded and became independent (its treaty with Athens had omitted the usual non-secession clause), was under the Persians again, revolted again, was conquered by Mausolus of Caria, returned to the Persians, and went under Macedonian hegemony at the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great. Due to the influx of Greek speakers and the sparsity of the remaining Lycian speakers, Lycia was totally Hellenized under the Macedonians. The Lycian language disappeared from inscriptions and coinage.
On defeating Antiochus III in 188 the Romans gave Lycia to Rhodes for 20 years, taking it back in 168 BC. In these latter stages of the Roman republic Lycia came to enjoy freedom as part of the Roman protectorate. The Romans validated home rule officially under the Lycian League in 168 BC. This native government was an early federation with democratic principles; these later came to the attention of the framers of the United States Constitution, influencing their thoughts.
Despite home rule under democratic principles Lycia was not a sovereign state and had not been since its defeat by the Carians. In 43 AD the Roman emperor, Claudius, dissolved the league. Lycia was incorporated into the Roman Empire with a provincial status. It became an eparchy of the Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, continuing to speak Greek even after being joined by communities of Turkish language speakers in the early 2nd millennium. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, Lycia was under the Ottoman Empire, and was inherited by the Turkish Republic on the fall of that empire. The Greeks were withdrawn when the border between Greece and Turkey was negotiated in 1923.
Lycia today is a substantial component of the Turquoise Coast. It is of interest not only for recreation and sport, but as a location of antiquities going back as early as the Bronze Age. The ruins of ancient Lycia are seemingly everywhere. For reasons unknown, perhaps isolation, recycling of the building stone was minimal compared to other regions.
Lycia,
We had a great view of the tombs from our hotel patio (Engur Pansiyon). They were amazing to see, especially lit up at night!
Please visit using the boat trip package from one pof the trip kiosks in the town centre.
Well worth it and excellent price – £16.
Loved seeing the tombs, it is only however close your boat can get you. We saw them on the way and on the way back from turtle beach and had a great view.
Loved sailing along the african queen looking at these tombs, the views were spectacular, we saw these tombs when we were on the dalyan mud baths trip
From Dalyan take ferry row boat across to other side (4TL return I believe) . Walk to site through a small farms area for 15 minutes or so. Walk in the extensive monuments area and feel the history in the fabulous setting. Walk back and enjoy fresh juice whilst waiting for ferry.
Accessing the tombs by boat cost 4 lira each way. You need to wear a strong pair of shoes as the path is rocky. The actual tombs are closed and can be viewed easily from the river side at Dalyan
Wonderful ancient tombs, ruins carved into the rocks in good condition, that can be seen all along the "Myra province", around Fethiye/Dalaman region. Many tours give the opportunity to stop and take photos and some give you time for you to climb up and into the tombs and look in; which were once tombs used as buriel places for the…
Really beautiful, we all loved it, it is really nicely preserved the sad part is that you can only see from the boat!! Take a good guide bcoz our guide didn't know much about the history of the tombs!
This was part of the trip to the mud baths and basically we passed them and were able to take a few pictures from quite a distance away, we were told a little about the tombs but how dissappointing that you couldn't access such a historic place so as to get a proper look at them.
Not worth a special visit and the boat trips don't land there. Picture from the river is all you can get. An Ok part of the whole Dalyan experience