The Ancient Town of Phaselis

Parking in front of the aqueduct of Phaselis
Mount Olympos – or Tahtalı Dağı
Entrance to the Domitian Agora

Phaselis was an important Greek and Roman harbour city on the coast of ancient Lycia, the area we are exploring at the moment. It was founded by the Rhodians (from the Greek island Rhodes) in 700 BC. Because of its location on an isthmus separating two harbours, it became the most important harbour city of eastern Lycia and an important centre of commerce between Greece, Asia, Egypt, and Phoenicia.

Theatre of Phaselis
View from the theatre
Remains of the Hadrian gate

A 24 metres wide road connects the north harbour with the south harbour, with all the important buildings like agoras, bath and theatre along this road. The pavement for pedestrians was once covered with mosaics. In the south the remains of the Hadrian gate marks the entrance to the city.

Along the main road
Parking for the Night

Just one bay further north of Phaselis, we spent the night at the beach. The next day we walked from there along the Lycian Way (or Likya Yolu), a long-distance trail along the coast of ancient Lycia, until we reached Phaselis again.

“Our” beach
A lot of dirt from the sea but also from the people who come here for picnics
Ancient tombs scattered in the forest
All the tombs are registered and numbered
Part of Ancient Phaselis
Northern harbour of Phaselis
On the way back we found a cave with great views
Flower of the Day

We had two nice days around Phaselis. We also wanted to take the gondola up to Mount Olympos, but the weather had changed before we made it there and the mountain was covered in clouds. We will travel further along the coast, hoping for good weather again. More on our next post!

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