Babadağ 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 area, and is usually higher t ...

near

Fethiye Fethiye () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 875 km2, and its population is 177,702 (2022). It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. It was formerly k ...

, in

Muğla Province Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...

, southwest

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. 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 aris ...

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

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. It is noted for its rich

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, including the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', commonly known as cedar of Lebanon, Lebanon cedar, or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of large evergreen conifer in the genus ''Cedrus'', which belongs to the Pinaceae, pine family and is native species, native to the mountai ...

''). 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 in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

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), whos ...

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

ancient Lycia Lycia (; Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka lands, Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the Prov ...

, 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 "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

(p. 665), whose description proceeds from west to east, after the promontory Telmissus, 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) Cragus or Cragos or Kragos (Greek: ) was a city of ancient Lycia, Asia Minor near or on Mount Cragus; its location is in modern-day Turkey (possibly in Muğla Province). Strabo, describes Cragus as a city amidst Mount Cragus. There are coins of t ...

. Another city, Pinara, 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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

Francis Beaufort Sir Francis Beaufort ( ; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer and naval officer who created the Beaufort cipher and the Beaufort scale. Early life Francis Beaufort was descended from French Protestant Hugu ...

'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 and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

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

Stadiasmus The ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' or ''Stadiasmus sive Periplus Maris Magni'' () is an ancient Roman periplus or guidebook detailing the ports sailors encounter on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The ''stadiasmus'' provides distances, sailing ...

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 known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

(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 Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

. Here, according to the authority quoted by

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

(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 (; born 7 September 1992) is a Kazakh professional cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . Career In 2012 he won the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in the Netherlands. At the 2015 Tour de Sui ...

, 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