Xanthos

The next Lycian city we toured was Xanthos, on the other end of the Xanthos valley from Tlos.  It has a rather gruesome history.  When besieged by the Persians with no hope in site, they burned their wives and children alive and set out on a suicide campaign against the besiegers.  The entire population died, excepting 80 families who happened to be absent at the time.  ugh

Xanthian obelisk, 

a tomb covered in inscriptions

I will say it felt like a militaristic town

The ruins were dominated by tombs, in the main square, a hug necropolis, lots of monuments...

The harpy tomb (on the left) is mostly famous because its siren/harpy relief decorated marble top was removed to some other museum.  What you see is actually a cement cast.  the other tomb is earlier, a Lycian Sarcophagus from the 3rd century BC

Harpy Tomb

Infrastructure.  

Water piping and a large cistern indicate siege preparedness

Some ruins that include a byzantine building, a church, a cistern, and a palace, but I don't know what is what

Back to the harpy tomb and the hilltop

Overlooking the Esen Cayi (Xanthos River)

The whole area is now super agricultural, but almost entirely greenhouse based agriculture.  very odd

Maybe more what it looked like in the day?

My love

Lots of ruins with low walls.  Though much of it is actually buried and we are standing near the ceiling

You can see this in some of them that have been dug out.

This might be a window in a church, or a palace

Mosaics suggest Roman or Byzantine occupation

Can you see all the greenhouses?  We actually got lost in that sea on our way back from the beach detour.  Circles and circles of never ending greenhouses.  You might ask what they grow, but it was obviously transition time so they were mostly empty.

A roman theater, obviously a later addition to the town

I know we saw tons of them and the pictures may all look the same, but I loved them anyways.  It just felt so tangible and normal to sit on those benches

Entrance under the stage

Goats like theater too

Another tomb, maybe the house tomb?

An agora from a later period of Xanthos

Kind of nice looking uncovered

I just like the inscriptions.  Half of them are boring when translated, but since I can't read them they look pretty cool

Many of the cool parts of Xanthos are now living in the British Museum, including the Nereid Monument and a number of cool tombs.  I still wandered the Necropolis

A pretty view over Xanthos proper

Militaristic and obsessed with death, but maybe history makes them so?