Antalya Hidden Sites: Termessos Mountain Fortress Alexander Never Conquered, Lycian Rock Tombs, Arykanda Cliff City, Seljuk Caravanserais, Karain Prehistoric Cave, and the Antalya Province Archaeological Circuit
The Antalya hidden sites route covers the Termessos mountain fortress that Alexander the Great decided was too difficult to take, the Lycian rock-cut tomb facades, the Arykanda cliff-hanging ancient city, the Seljuk caravanserais on the Anatolian trade routes, the Karain cave prehistoric site, and the complete Antalya province archaeological circuit beyond the main sites.
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Termessos: The Unconquered Mountain Fortress
Termessos, the ancient Pisidian city at 1,050 meters in the Taurus mountains 34 kilometers from Antalya, is the only city in the region that Alexander the Great decided not to besiege, judging the mountain approach too difficult and the defenders too determined to justify the siege cost. The Termessos ruins, set in the Guludag National Park forest with no road to the ancient site beyond the park entrance, are the most atmospherically complete ancient city in the Antalya region - the theatre on the cliff edge above the Antalya Bay, the rock-cut tombs on the mountainside, and the lion sarcophagi in the necropolis emerging from the forest undergrowth.
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Lycian Rock Tombs: The Cliff-Cut Funerary Architecture
The Lycian rock tombs cut into the vertical limestone cliff faces of the Taurus mountains from Antalya to Fethiye, the distinctive funerary architecture of the Lycian civilization that the 4th century BC League of Lycian cities created, are the most visually dramatic single expression of the ancient Anatolian burial tradition. The rock tomb facades, carved to imitate the wooden house frontages of the Lycian domestic architecture with the beam ends, the door frames, and the carved pediments, are visible from the coastal road at Myra near Demre, from the Esen valley near Tlos, and at the Pinara cliff face where hundreds of tombs cover the entire vertical limestone face.
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Arykanda: The Cliff-Hanging Ancient City
Arykanda, the ancient Lycian city in the Elmal Valley north of Kemer that was built on a series of terraces cut into the cliff face at a gradient that required the staircases between every building level, is the most vertically organized ancient city in Turkey and the archaeological site that most dramatically communicates the Lycian willingness to inhabit the most difficult natural terrain. The Arykanda theatre, the baths with the large mosaic floor, and the civic agora on the successive terraces connected by the ancient stairways provide the most complete small Lycian city circuit in the Antalya province.
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Seljuk Caravanserais: The Anatolian Trade Route Heritage
The Seljuk caravanserais on the trade routes of the Antalya province, particularly the Kirkgoz Han near Burdur and the Incir Han on the Burdur-Antalya road, are the best-preserved examples of the 13th century Anatolian Seljuk caravanserai architecture outside the Sultan Han near Aksaray and the most direct evidence of the Silk Road commercial network that the Seljuk state maintained on the Anatolian plateau routes. The han architecture with the vaulted winter hall, the open summer courtyard, the mosque, the hamam, and the stables provided the complete commercial infrastructure for the 40-kilometer journey stages.
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Karain Cave: The Oldest Human Site in Turkey
Karain Cave, 27 kilometers north of Antalya in the Taurus limestone cliffs, is the most important Paleolithic site in Turkey with the 500,000-year-old stone tools, the Neanderthal human remains, and the continuous occupation sequence from the Lower Paleolithic to the Ottoman period that makes it the longest single-site occupation sequence in Anatolia. The Karain cave site museum and the cave itself, accessible to the visitor with the guide, provide the most complete picture of the prehistoric human presence in the Antalya region and the deep time context for the classical and Byzantine heritage.
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Antalya Province Circuit: The Complete Archaeological Map
The Antalya province contains over 1,000 identified archaeological sites including the major sites of Perge, Aspendos, Side, Termessos, Phaselis, Olympos, and the Lycian coastal cities, making it the most archaeologically dense single province in Turkey and the most richly provided single region in the world for the visitor combining the beach resort with the archaeological tourism. The complete Antalya province circuit, covered in a 10-day rental car tour, is the most comprehensive single-region archaeological travel experience available in the entire Mediterranean basin.