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Xanthos 88 pictures 3 minutes HQ video The name Xanthos brings Homer to mind: in fact the river, which bears the same name which in Greek means yellow, is mentioned in the Iliad because it is from here that Arpedonte left at the head of his troups. Today the valley is known as Esen Cay. Discovered in 1838 by the archaeologist Charles Fellows, it is the oldest town in Lycia and must have existed at the time of the epic war described by Homer. Its name is also associated with another event: it was a free, independent town until 454 B.C., when it was besieged by the Persian army led by Harpagus. When they saw they were doomed to defeat they preferred to take their lives rather than fall to the enemy. According to Herodotus, the men first of all killed the women and children, before setting fire to the citadel where they had gathered together all their worldly possessions. They then swore to fight to the death, and did. Besieged in 42 B.C. by Brutus, it was sacked and its citadel destroyed; only 150 inhabitants survived. Later on, it reacquired considerable importance from the trading and political points of view, but the Arab depredations were the coup de grace. Alongside the theatre, which dates back to the 2^nd century .A.D., but was probably built over a previous Greek theatre, stands the famous Tomb of the Harpies, whose original reliefs are kept in the British Museum in London. Column with Inscription This monument consisted of a pillar mounted on a two stepped krepis, a funerary chamber, a projecting horizontal roof and a crowning Theater The theater was built in the mid-second century A.D. Located nearby are three splendid monuments, one of which is a Lycian pillar tomb. This monument was built during the 4^th century B.C., but was carried to its present site during the erection of the theater in the Roman period. Byzantine Church An overall view of the Byzantine church which contains mosaics. Nereids monument A monument in the Ionic order, which dates back to 400 B.C. It was in the form of a temple, consisting of a high podium surmounted by a funerary structure in the form of an Ionic Greek temple. It measures 10.15 x 68 meters, and is 5.15 meters high. It has two series of reliefs depicting battle scenes (the reliefs are now in the British Museum). Buildings on the Acropolis Pool on the Acropolis Back to Turkey Index