Phaselis ( grc, Φασηλίς) or Faselis ( tr, Faselis) was a Greek and Roman city on the coast of ancient Lycia. Its ruins are located north of the modern town Tekirova in the Kemer district of Antalya Province in Turkey. It lies between the Bey Mountains and the forests of Olympos National Park, south of the tourist town of Kemer and on the 57th kilometre of the Antalya–Kumluca highway. Phaselis and other ancient towns around the shore can also be accessed from the sea by daily yacht tours.

History

The town was set up by the

Rhodians Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

in 690 BC. Because of its location on an isthmus separating two harbours, it became the most important harbour city of eastern Lycia and an important centre of commerce between Greece, Asia, Egypt, and Phoenicia, although it did not belong to the Lycian League. The city was captured by Persians after they conquered Asia Minor.

Cimon Cimon or Kimon ( grc-gre, Κίμων; – 450BC) was an Athenian ''strategos'' (general and admiral) and politician. He was the son of Miltiades, also an Athenian ''strategos''. Cimon rose to prominence for his bravery fighting in the naval Batt ...

, in 468 BC, attacked the city and it was enrolled in the

Delian Confederacy The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plat ...

. Later it was captured by Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander, the city remained in Greek hands from 209 BC to 197 BC, under the dynasty of Ptolemaios, and with the conclusion of the Apamea treaty, was handed over to the Rhodian Peraia, together with the other cities of Lycia. From 190 BC to 160 BC it remained under Rhodeian hegemony, but after 160 BC it was absorbed into the Lycian confederacy under Roman rule. Phaselis, like

Olympos Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to: Mountains In antiquity Greece * Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology * Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Lesb ...

, was under constant threat from pirates in the 1st century BC, and the city was even taken over by the pirate Zekenites for a period until his defeat in 77 or 76 BC by the Romans under

Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus (c. 130 BC – 44 BC), was a Roman politician and general of the First Century BC. He was elected one of the two consuls for 79 BC. From 78 to 74 BC, as proconsul of Cilicia, he fought against the Cilician Pirates ...

. In 42 BC Brutus had the city linked to Rome. In the 3rd century AD, the harbor fell 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. When the

Seljuqs The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

began to concentrate on Alanya and Antalya as ports, Phaselis ceased to be a port of any note. There was a temple of Athene at Phaselis, where the lance of Achilles was exhibited. It was the birthplace of the poet and orator Theodectes. It was also renowned for its roses, from which the essence was extracted.

Bishopric

Phaselis became a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

bishopric, a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the metropolitan see of Mira, the capital of the Roman province of Lycia. Its bishop Fronto took part in the Council of Chalcedon in 451. His successor, Aristodemus, was one of the signatories of the letter that in 458 the bishops of Lycia sent to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian concerning the murder of Proterius of Alexandria. The bishop of the time of the Second Council of Nicaea (787) did not attend, and the acts were signed in his name by a deacon called Ioannes. No longer a residential bishopric, Phaselis is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 893

Notable people

Lacritus Lacritus ( grc, Λάκριτος) was a sophist, and native of Phaselis, known to us chiefly from the speech of Demosthenes against him, and for having been the tutor of Archias of Thurii. The subject of the speech entails a man named Androcles, ...

, a Greek sophist *

Critolaus Critolaus (; el, Κριτόλαος ''Kritolaos''; c. 200 – c. 118 BC) of Phaselis was a Greek philosopher of the Peripatetic school. He was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BC (the other two being Carneades and Diogenes of Babylon) ...

, a Greek

Peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece *Peripatetic axiom * Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade. *Peripatetic Jats There are several ...

philosopher * Theodectes, a Greek rhetorician and tragic poet

Phaselis today

Phaselis has three harbours: the 'Northern Harbour', the 'Battle Harbour' and the 'Protected (Sun) Harbour', of which the last is the most important today. A 24-metre-wide ancient street runs through the middle of the city. The 'Hadrian Waterway Gate' is on the southern part of the street. There are ruins of shops and stores on the sides of the street and near these are ruins of public places such as

Roman baths In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...

agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...

s and theatres. These structures are dated to the 2nd century BC. There are water canals between the town centre and the 70 m plateau. There are also numerous sarcophagi. File:Phaselis Aqueduct 5267.jpg, Phaselis Aqueduct File:Phaselis Big Bath 4735.jpg, Phaselis Big Bath File:Phaselis Big Bath 5284.jpg, Phaselis Big Bath File:Phaselis march 2012 5298.jpg, Phaselis Main Street File:Phaselis Decoration near Hadrian's Gate 4744.jpg, Phaselis Decoration near Hadrian's Gate File:Phaselis Hadrian's Gate 5314.jpg, Phaselis Hadrian's Gate File:Phaselis City Harbour 4761.jpg, Phaselis North Harbour File:Phaselis City Harbour 5300.jpg, Phaselis North Harbour File:Phaselis South Harbour 5325.jpg, Phaselis South Harbour File:Phaselis View from South Harbour 5321.jpg, Phaselis View from South Harbour File:Phaselis Tetragonal Agora 5355.jpg, Phaselis Tetragonal Agora File:Phaselis Front Tetragonal agora 5359.jpg, Phaselis Front Tetragonal agora File:Phaselis Small Bath 4747.jpg, Phaselis Small Bath File:Phaselis Small Bath and Theatre 5357.jpg, Phaselis Small Bath and Theatre File:Phaselis Theatre 5331.jpg, Phaselis Theatre File:Phaselis march 2012 5308.jpg, Phaselis Street along Domitian Agora File:Phaselis Entrance Domitian Agora 5310.jpg, Phaselis Entrance Domitian Agora File:Phaselis Domitian Agora 5328.jpg, Phaselis Domitian Agora File:Phaselis March area 5368.jpg, Phaselis March area

References

External links