Day Six An excursion to Patara, Xanthos and Letoon was on our schedule for the day but the heat of the sun convinced most of our group to remain on the sea. Only four of us went on the journey driven by a local driver. We came first to Letoon, a small ancient Lycian city
Day Six
An excursion to Patara, Xanthos and Letoon was on our schedule for the day but the heat of the sun convinced most of our group to remain on the sea. Only four of us went on the journey driven by a local driver. We came first to Letoon, a small ancient Lycian city which dates back to 532 BC. An offspring of the city of Xanthos, Letoon has a large Amphitheater, a large Nymphaeum, a Temple of Apollo with an unusual mosaic of a lyre, the sun and a bow and arrow. One of the only Lycian mosaic existing today – and it’s in perfect shape.
We drove through small villages with greenhouses that covered almost every inch of the local farmer’s 10-acre plots of farmland. They grew tomatoes in the winter for the entire country, and cotton and tobacco in the summer. After 20 minutes we reached Xanthos. Xanthos rests on top of a hill overlooking the Xanthos river which provides crystal clear water to the 20,000 inhabitants, only miles from its source in the mountains. Xanthos was the capital of Lycia and mentioned in the “Iliad” for its fine meats, wines and bountiful vegetables. The inscribed pillar at the NE corner of the agora is actually a tomb erected in 50 BC and is inscribed in Greek and Lycian script and is the longest Lycian inscription known. Many of the friezes and sculptures in Xanthos were taken by Sir Charles Fellows and the British Navy, and can be seen at the Xanthos room of the British Museum.
One of the most interesting stories of Xanthos relates to the two tragic mass suicides. The first in 546 BC when the Persians with their superior army advanced to attack the city of Xanthos. Herodotus tells us “when Harpogus advanced into the plain of Xanthos, they met him in battle, though greatly outnumbered, and fought with much gallantry: at length however, they were defeated and forced to retire within their walls, whereupon they collected their women, children, slaves, and other property and shut them up in the citadel, set fire to it and burnt it to the ground. Then having sworn to do or die, they marched out to meet the enemy and were killed to the last man.”
Five hundred years later the same thing happened when Brutus attached Xanthos in 42 BC.
We managed to find the caretaker who, after feeding us figs from a tree that grew next to the agora, explained to us that Xanthos has three layers – Lycian, Roman and Byzantine. Its easy to tell the difference in the walls – the Lycian made with huge boulders strategically placed on top and along side each other to ensure stability. The Roman walls are smaller rocks cut in rectangles and placed on top and next to one another, and the Byzantine walls made of small rocks held together by mortar. He explained the different water systems of carrying the water to Xanthos – from cisterns and paddlewheels to Roman aqueducts. We walked up to the church to see beautiful mosaics, which our friend uncovered by moving away the sand.
He guided is to the top of the hill where we saw a large Roman swimming pool complete with both an adult pool and kiddy pool. We thanked our new friend and gave him a few dollars to show our appreciation for his time. On our drive out of the city we viewed the Necropolis on the hillside alongside local picnic areas. I wondered if the picnickers realized how lucky they were to perhaps be descendents of such a great people and brave warriors.
We had one more city to see – Patara – the Mythological birthplace of Apollo and a principal harbor of ancient Lycia. The ruins are numerous and fascinating. Its twenty-two kilometers of pure white sand stretch as far as the eye can see, making it a natural choice for all types of beach sports. But it was 100 degrees and we were very hot. Our driver suggested we go to Saklikent to see a gorge and to Kadikoy to see a carpet making cooperative.
Saklikent was a great place. We hiked up from the river along a reinforced walkway to the mouth of the gorge where we could walk along the shore. The ice cold snowmelt escapes from the mountains and flows down through this gorge to make the Xanthos River. We plunged into the water, which stopped our breath but felt so invigorating. Back down along the river, restaurants were set up along the banks in a very unusual way. Platforms were anchored into the water by braces and the platforms rested only a few inches above the swiftly running headwaters. Carpets and big pillows covered the platforms and after removing our shoes, we sat on the carpet and rested against the pillows – very comfy! The idea was to have your lunch and take a nap afterward while being cooled by the flowing water that is running underneath you – Turkish air conditioning! We had a small lunch of local borek with white cheese and parsley and rested.
Once in a while we’d dip our feet or heads into the water to cool off. The only drawback to the experience was that one of our party lost his shoe when it was apparently accidentally dropped into the rushing river never to be seen again.
After lunch we were off to our next adventure to learn the fine art of rug making in Turkey in Kadikoy. This village has a carpet cooperative. The ladies of the village make the rugs but share in the profits. They maintain the area’s designs, natural dyes and wool & silk quality. We watched as the ladies turned lambs wool into thread and silk cocoons into thread. They mixed and colored the threads with natural dyes made from onionskins, sage, flowers, and roots. Then the threads are turned into carpets.
Turkish carpets are unique in that they are double knotted so that the threads never slip. It takes about 3½ months for a woman to make a normal wool carpet with five knots per inch – the carpet would sell for about $600. We couldn’t help but think that it was an incredibly time consuming process from shaving the sheep, making the thread, dying the thread, tying the knots to selling the carpet – how many hours were spent? Our estimate was 700 hours for one carpet. It was then that I felt a sudden pang of guilt for bargaining so relentlessly with the carpet dealers in Istanbul.
We learned so much in those few hours that my head was reeling. The evolution of the carpet, modern carpets, making the carpets, the carpet regions and villages, designs, symbols, and colors. Like studying the great masters of Goya, Picasso, and Rodin, the carpet is a form of art to be held in high respect and admired. By the time we left Kadiboy it was 6pm and we had to head straight back to the Gundogan which was waiting patiently in the harbor to take off for Kos.
Our mini bus driver was Idris Coban and Captain Hasan set him up for us. He charged us $100 total for the ten-hour jaunt. If you need a driver he can help you in Kas, Kalkan and Antalya. You can reach him at his mobile number 0533 335 6553 or work 0242 844 3295 or at home 0242 844 2109 – his English is very limited.
Kas was a lush and tropical town. Star jasmine, gardenia, bougainvillea, palms, figs and pomegranate trees growing in every garden and climbing up as high as four stories up the pensions that line the streets. We pulled into the harbor with music blaring from the discos, wondering if we were going to be able to sleep that evening. We didn’t hear the music cut off at 2am as we slept like hardened sailors.
Kas, once ancient Antiphellus, lies wedged between mountains and sea and still exhibits a few remains of the old settlement. An ancient theatre on the peninsula is within walking distance of the town.