Though a very ancient city nearby Antalya,
in the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia,
the early history of Olympus is shrouded in mystery. We know it was an
important Lycian city by the 2nd century B.C.,
and that the Olympians worshipped Hephaestos
(Vulcan), the god of fire. No doubt this veneration sprang from reverence
for the mysterious Chimeira, an eternal flame which
still springs from the earth not far from the city. The town declined in
the 1st century B.C. until the arrival of the Romans in the 2nd century
A.D. In the 3rd century pirate attacks brought impoverishment. In the Middle
Ages, Venetians, Genoese and Rhodians built fortresses along the coast,
but, by the 15th century Olympus had been abandoned.
Today the site is fascinating, not just for its ruins that are fragmentary
and widely scattered amidst the thick greenery of wild grapevines, flowering
oleander, bay trees, wild figs and pines, but for its site, just inland
from a beautiful beach along the course of a stream which runs through
a rocky gorge.
The Chimarea take its name from the myth of Bellerophon. The Lycian King, Lobates, sent Bellerophon to kill the fire-breathing monster, part lion, goat and serpent. With the aid of the winged horse Pegasus, he succeeded, and returned, after completing other tasks set by Lobates, to Xanthus where he married the king's daughter and became heir of the Lycian throne. Carried away by his success, Bellerophon tried to ride Pegasus up to Mount Olympus; for his presumption, he earned a great thunderbolt from Zeus.
Although the Beldibi cave in the vicinity shows signs of pre-historic dwelling, we can trace the city of Phaselis no further back than the 7th century B.C. The city was colonized by Greeks from Rhodes, possessed three natural harbors, and was close to a richly forested region. However, as in other areas of the coast of Anatolia, there were settlements before the arrival of the Rhodeian colonists, and therefore it was probably founded first by force, or perhaps by gradual integration with the local peoples, after their initial acceptance of the colonists.
Phaselis fell into Persians hands after they took Anatolia, and later on to the hands of Alexander the Great after he defeated the Persians. Phaselis opened its doors to Alexander, admitting him as a guest. It was here that Alexander accepted many of the envoys from the cities of Pamphylia, then taking each of the coastal cities in turn, advanced to Gordion.
After the death of Alexander, the city remained in Egyptian hands from 209 B.C. to 197 B.C., under the dynasty of Ptolomaios, and with the conclusion of the Apamea treaty, was handed over to the Kingdom of Rhodes, together with the other cities of Lycia. From 190 B.C. to 160 B.C. it remained under Rhodeian hegemony, but after 160 B.C. it was absorbed into the Lycian confederacy under Roman rule. Phaselis, like .Olympus, was under constant threat of pirates in the 1st century B.C., and the city was even taken over by the pirate Zekenites for a period until his defeat by the Romans. In 42 B.C. Brutus had the city linked to Rome. During the Byzantine period, the city became a bishopric, although in the 3rd century A.D., its convenient harbor had fallen under the threat of pirates once again. So it began to lose importance, suffering further losses at the hands of Arab ships, until totally impoverished in the 11th century A.D. When the Seljuks began to concentrate on Alanya and Antalya as ports, Phaselis ceased to be a port of any note.
Although the ruins are not extremely exciting, the setting is one of the more beautiful, incomparably romantic ones that can found on this part of the Mediterranean coast.
Phaselis is a city of natural harbors of which she had at least three. Near the car park is the northern harbor, next to this the naval base, and to the south the southern harbor, popular today with swimmers and yachts. The two small islets on the northern harbor were joined to the mainland by a pier which extended from the walls around the promontory. It is still possible to see the remains of this pier and the walls.
In this once favored port of ancient times, the visitor can find many ancient ruins. The remains of the aqueduct are partially standing; beyond these one can see the naval harbor road, which is linked to the northern harbor. On the road facing the southern harbor is a portal leading to the harbor, built during the reign of Hadrian. On the sides of the roads are to be found the remains of a large number of shops. Across the tree-covered site to the south of this road can be seen the commercial agora, the Domitian Agora and the later agora. Returning along the same route you pass through the Gate of Hadrian along the main road and come to the theatre. The Acropolis was surrounded with walls and the theater was founded on the north-western slopes. The auditorium and skene are still identifiable, and date from Roman period.
After looking at the theater, you may continue to the harbor area and visit the inner harbor. The necropolis was situated stretching beyond the aqueduct over the steep slopes behind the harbor. There are still many graves to be seen there.
The three harbors are perfect for swimming since part of the ruins are
now submerged, making swimming and snorkeling very entertaining and exciting.
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