Epic Travel → Europe → Turkey → Phaselis

Location: Kemer District, Antalya

Time Required: 2 – 3 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Admission is 20 Turkish Lira (around $10 US); open daily from 8am – 5pm year round, and until 7pm in the summer (15 April to 2 October). If you can read Turkish, here’s the official website. Otherwise, the Phaselis Project website has some great information and nice photos (including some excellent aerial shots) and our old friend Wikipedia is always a good source of additional historical information.

What’s Nearby?: Termessos, Chimaera

Phaselis is an ancient city, established in 700 BCE by the Rhodians, and is located on the isthmus between two harbors. This location made it an important center for trade and commerce amongst Greece, Asia, Egypt, and Phoenicia. Unfortunately, being an important city meant you were also in high demand, and the city changed hands with some regularity, including being capture by the Persians, Alexander the Great, spending time under Egyptian rule, then part of the kingdom of Rhodes, and eventually the Roman Empire. It also dealt constantly with attacks from pirates, and as the city fell in importance to its protectors, it was essentially laid waste by pirates and was totally impoverished by the 11th century CE. I guess being impoverished and having no one care about you anymore means good things from historical perspective, because there are loads of structures and ruins still present at the site today, including portions of the aqueducts, Roman baths, the Hadrian Waterway Gate, city streets, and numerous sarcophagi and tombs (which continue to be uncovered erosion occurs). The site is also very picturesquely located, adding to its appeal, with multiple harbors that can be visited.

Epic Travel → Europe → Turkey → Phaselis