Arycanda or Arykanda ( grc, Ἀρύκανδα or Ἀρυκάνδα) is an Ancient

Lycia Lycia ( 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 Sea in what is ...

n city, former bishopric and present Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

Antalya Province Antalya Province ( tr, ) is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visi ...

in the

Mediterranean Region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

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

. Arykanda was a rich but remote city built upon five large terraces high on a mountain slope, today located near the small modern village of Aykiriçay on the Elmalı-

Finike Finike, the ancient Phoenix or Phoinix ( grc, Φοῖνιξ), also formerly Phineka, is a town and a district on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya Province in Turkey, to the west of the city of Antalya, along the Turkish Riviera. It is located o ...

road. The excellent state of preservation is due to its remote location and the city's early abandonment. The site has been partly excavated and restored by an Ankara University team.

History

Arycanda is known to be one of the old Lycian cities, as its name ends with -anda, indicative of its

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

n origin; dating back as far as the 2nd millennium BC. The oldest remains and finds from the city date from the 6th or 5th century BC. Archaeological evidence suggests it became a town in the third century BC, when it gained typically Greek monuments including an agora,

bouleuterion A bouleuterion ( grc-gre, βουλευτήριον, ''bouleutērion''), also translated as and was a building in ancient Greece which housed the council of citizens (, ''boulē'') of a democratic city state. These representatives assembled a ...

, a small stadium, temples and eventually a beautiful theatre. The city was at its most prosperous in the Roman period. Its wealth is thought to have come from passing trade and timber from the nearby forests. It had no city walls to defend it, only a single watchtower at the highest point of the town being a potentially defensive feature. It was severely damaged by an earthquake in the 3rd century AD after which it was partially abandoned, although parts survived and prospered. Early Christian basilicas were built through to

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

times of the 6th century when the settlement moved to a new site south of the modern road called Arif (or Aruf) in archaeological literature (to distinguish it from the older site).

Sights

The Acropolis houses

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and older remains of the site which include the temple of Helios, bouleuterion,

prytaneion A ''prytaneion'' ( grc, Πρυτανεῖον, la, prytanēum) was seat of the '' prytaneis'' (executive), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (n ...

, upper agora withs its shops, and several excavated houses. The lower city houses most of the Roman remains. These include: * 7 bath houses of various sizes. A monumental bath complex on the lowest terrace, still virtually intact in its sequence of arches, is in the same complex as the gymnasium. The baths may have been a centre of attraction for tourists from the coast who came to the city to cool off, as the population was too small for so many baths. * An aqueduct fed the baths with water from mount Bey Dag * Lower Agora, some of the shops in its eastern part can still be seen. It is wide and flat, located to the south of the odeon and was enclosed on three sides by a portico. At its middle are the remains of Tyche Temple. * A theatre, in excellent condition, built during the 1st century BC. It has 20 rows of seats, divided into 7 sections. At the edge of every row are holes that were used to support protective awnings. * Odeon - 2nd century AD. The main entrance is to the south, through a triple portal. This was once a very ornate building, the interior was lined with orthostats and the walls, orchestra and seats were once covered with coloured marble. A block that was discovered (and now housed in Antalya Archaeological Museum) during the excavations over the portal bears a portrait of the Emperor Hadrian. * A stadium, from the Hellenistic period, that resides above the theatre, in the form of a running track with seats built only on one side. It is smaller than a usual stadium, measuring 106 m. long and 17 m. wide. * a temple dedicated to deified Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

* Two

necropoleis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

. The one on the entrance to the site is very interesting with its series of richly decorated funerary monuments. The eastern necropolis has barrel-vaulted monumental tombs, temple-tombs and sarcophagi and the western necropolis has rock-cut tombs and barrel-vaulted tombs. At least 4 late rich Roman houses have been found in the ancient city whose owners were privileged people. In 2017 an prestigious Roman house overlooking the city with eight large rooms and dating from the 5th c. AD was discovered which was destroyed by a fire in 435. It includes a private bath and also a commercial public bath open to paying customers. There was also a pool in the courtyard with a view. The name of the owner, Pierus, was found on a floor mosaic.

Ecclesiastical history

Former diocese

Since it was in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Lycia, the

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of Arneae was a suffragan of the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ...

of Myra, the province's capital. The

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by the Old Catholics, the Anglican Communion, an ...

(787) were signed on behalf of the absent bishop of Arycanda by his

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Petrus. Another bishop of Arycanda, Theodorus, took part in the Photian

Council of Constantinople (879) The Fourth Council of Constantinople was held in 879–880. It confirmed the reinstatement of Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople. The result of this council is accepted by some Eastern Orthodox as having the authority of an ecumenical co ...

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, Arycanda is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 838 It is presently vacant, having had the following incumbents since the diocese was nominally restored in 1921, under the name Aucanda/Ascanda until 1925, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank : * Sotero Redondo Herrero,

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

(O.E.S.A.) (1921.06.16 – 1935.02.24) * Anunciado Serafini (1935.05.11 – 1939.06.20) * Jean Larregain (甘有為),

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons de ...

(M.E.P.) (1939.06.13 – 1942.05.02) * Joseph Martin Nathan (1943.04.17 – 1947.01.30) * Antônio Maria Alves de Siqueira (1947.05.10 – 1957.07.19) (later Archbishop) * Francisco Ferreira Arreola (1957.12.21 – 1960.08.01) * Benito Epifanio Rodríguez (1960.09.23 – 2001.02.15)

Gallery

File:Arycanda Theatre panorama 3808.jpg, Arycanda Theatre panorama File:Arycanda Theatre panorama 5011.jpg, Arycanda Theatre panorama Arykanda Grabstätte.jpg, Grave decorated with a

gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...

head File:Arykanda 4973.jpg, Arykanda general view File:Arycanda 3797.jpg, Arycanda from within bath File:Arykanda 4918.jpg, Arycanda Peristyle house File:Arykanda 4958.jpg, Arykanda Peristyle house mosaic File:Arykanda 4959.jpg, Arykanda Peristyle house mosaic File:Arykanda 4960.jpg, Arykanda Peristyle house mosaic File:Arykanda State agora 4975.jpg, Arykanda State agora File:Arykanda 4949.jpg, Arykanda Basilica mosaic File:Arycanda 3894.jpg, Arycanda Traianeum File:Arykanda 5075.jpg, Arykanda Tomb 1 File:Arykanda 5085.jpg, Arykanda Monumental grave File:Arykanda 5094.jpg, Monumental grave entrance detail

Notes

External links

GigaCatholic with titular incumbent biography links

Photos of Arykanda

About 270 pictures of this ancient site
{{Authority control Populated places in ancient Lycia Catholic titular sees in Asia Archaeological sites in Antalya Province Former populated places in Turkey Geography of Antalya Province Finike District