Babadağ (ancient Mount Anticragus, grc, Ἀντίκραγος) is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

near

Fethiye Fethiye () is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. In 2019 its population was 162,686. History Fethiye was formerly known as Makri (). ...

, in

Muğla Province Muğla Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are ...

, southwest

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The mountain has a principal summit at an elevation of and a second one called ''"Karatepe"'' at an elevation of . These two summits face each other and are separated by a flood valley, which led to the term "

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

" to be used in some sources in association with Babadağ. The mass is composed mainly of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. It is noted for its rich

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

, including the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

'' Acer undulatum'', and forests of Lebanon Cedar (''

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

''). It is also notable for the proximity of its summit to the sea (less than 5 km) which is one of the factors that make it particularly suitable and popular for

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

Babadağ, Mount Cragus and Anticragus

In ancient times,

Mount Cragus Mount Cragus or Mount Cragos or Mount Kragos (Greek: ) – also recorded as Hiera Acra – is a mountain in Turkey, in what was formerly ancient Lycia, Asia Minor. It is identified with the modern Sandak Dağ. Strabo (p. 665), whose ...

(also spelled ''Mount Cragos'' or ''Mount Kragus'') was a principal mountain of

ancient Lycia Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...

, although ancient names are sometimes difficult to match with the features observed today.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

(p. 665), whose description proceeds from west to east, after the promontory

Telmissus Telmessos or Telmessus ( Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭 ''Kuwalapašša'', Lycian: 𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆 ''Telebehi'', grc, Τελμησσός), also Telmissus ( grc, Τελμισσός), later Anastasiopolis ( grc, Αναστ� ...

, mentions "Anticragus", on which is Carmylessus, and then Cragus, which has eight ''"summits"'' (''or he may have meant "capes"''), and a city of the same name; Cragus (Lycia). Another city,

Pinara Pinara ( Lycian: 𐊓𐊆𐊍𐊍𐊁𐊑𐊏𐊆 ''Pilleñni'', presumably from the adjective "round"; el, τὰ Πίναρα, formerly ''Artymnesus'' or ''Artymnesos'' according to one account) was a large city of ancient Lycia at the foot of ...

, in the interior, was at the base of Cragus. There are coins of the town Cragus of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

imperial period, with the epigraph ''Λυκιων Κρ.'' or ''Κρα.'' or ''Κραγ.'' The range of Anticragus and Cragus is represented in the map in Spratt and Forbes as running south from the neighbourhood of Telmissus, and forming the western boundary of the lower basin of the river

Xanthus Xanthus (; grc, Ξάνθος, ''Xanthos'', "yellow, blond") or Xanthos may refer to: In Greek mythology * Xanthos (King of Thebes), the son of Ptolemy, killed by Andropompus or Melanthus *Xanthus (mythology), several figures, including gods, men, ...

. The southern part is Cragus. The direction of the range shows that it must abut on the sea in bold headlands. In

Francis Beaufort Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer, rear admiral of the Royal Navy, and creator of the Beaufort cipher and the Beaufort scale. Early life Francis Beaufort was descended f ...

's map of the coast of

Karamania In the 18th and 19th centuries, Karamania (or Caramania) was an exonym used by Europeans for the southern (Mediterranean) coast of Anatolia, then part of the Ottoman Empire (current Turkey). It can also refer to the general south central Anatolian r ...

, the Anticragus is marked 6000 feet high. Beaufort's examination of this coast began at Yediburun, which means "the Seven Capes", a knot of high and rugged mountains that appear to have been the ancient Mount Cragus of Lycia. The ruins of Pinara are where Strabo describes them, on the east side of this range, about halfway between Telmissus and the termination of the range on the south coast. There is a pass leading between the summits of Cragus and Anticragus. Between the two chief peaks is a plain 4000 feet above the sea; and above it rises the highest peak of Cragus, more than 2500 feet above this elevated plain. The first half of the ascent from the plain is through a thick forest, and the remainder over bare rock. From the summit there is a view of the whole plain of Xanthus, and of the gorges of the Massicytus, which lies east of it. The side towards the sea is so steep, that from this lofty summit the waves are seen breaking white against the base of this precipitous mountain mass. It appears that Strabo is right when he describes a valley or depression as separating Anticragus and Cragus; and the highest part, which towers above the sea at the Seven Capes, seems to be the eight summits that Strabo speaks of. There was a promontory Cragus, according to

Scylax Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The peri ...

and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

(v. 27), which must be the Seven Capes. The ''Hiera Acra'' of the

Stadiasmus The ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' ( grc, Σταδιασμός ήτοι περίπλους της μεγάλης θαλάσσης) is an ancient Roman periplus or guidebook detailing the ports sailors encounter on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

seems also to be the Seven Capes. The position of the Cragus between Xanthus and Telmissus is mentioned by

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...

(i. 15), and he also probably means the same striking part of the range. Lycia-turkey-ancient

The rocks and forests of Cragus were embellished by poetic fictions as the occasional residence of Diana. Here, according to the authority quoted by

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

(s. v. ), were the so-called .

Cycling

Stage three of the 2023 Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye took a 104.1 kilometre route from Fethiye to the highest point on the road up Babadağ. It was described as "one of the hardest climbs ever featured in a professional bike race" The stage was won by

Alexey Lutsenko Alexey Alexandrovich Lutsenko (russian: Алексей Александрович Луценко; born 7 September 1992) is a Kazakh professional cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career In 2012 he won the under-23 road race at the UCI R ...

, and the final 18.12 km of the route took 1:12:32.

References

Other sources

*Hiking Babadağ
Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babadag (Mountain) Geography of ancient Lycia Cragus Landforms of Muğla Province

Babadağ, Mount Cragus and Anticragus

Cycling

See also

References

Other sources