Phaselis

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The main road

The aqueduct

Phaselis is an ancient Lycian city in the Antalya Province in Turkey. It is located between the Bey mountains and the forests of the Olympos National Park, 16 km west to the touristic town of Kemer and 57th kilometer of the Antalya - Kumluca highway. Phaselis and other ancient towns around the shore can also be accessed from the sea by daily yacht tours.

[edit] History

The town was set up the Rhodesian's in 700 BC. It had been the most important harbor city of the western Lycia for centuries. The city was captured by Persians after they conquered Asia minor, and later captured by Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander, the city remained in Egyptian hands from 209 B.C. to 197 B.C., under the dynasty of Ptolomaios, and with the conclusion of the Apamea treaty, was handed over to the Kingdom of Rhodes, together with the other cities of Lycia. From 190 B.C. to 160 B.C. it remained under Rhodeian hegemony, but after 160 B.C. it was absorbed into the Lycian confederacy under Roman rule. Phaselis, like Olympus, was under constant threat of pirates in the 1st century B.C., and the city was even taken over by the pirate Zekenites for a period until his defeat by the Romans.. In 42 B.C. Brutus had the city linked to Rome. During the Byzantine period, the city became a bishopric, although in the 3rd century A.D., its convenient harbor had fallen under the threat of pirates once again. So it began to lose importance, suffering further losses at the hands of Arab ships, until totally impoverished in the 11th century A.D.. When the Selcuks began to concentrate on Alanya and Antalya as ports, Phaselis ceased to be a port of any note.Phaselis has 3 harbors. The "Northern Harbor", the "Battle Harbor" and the "Protected(Sun) Harbor". The most important of these today is the "Protected(Sun) Harbor". In the middle of the city, there is a 24 meter wide ancient street. In the southern part of the street,there is the "Hadrian Water Way Door". There are ruins of shops and stores on the sides of the street and near these there are ruins of public places like Roman Baths,Agora's and Theatres. The date of these structures are said to be dated back to 2nd century BC. There are water canals between the town center and the 70m. plato.