Termessos

Termessos is perhaps the most interesting ancient city in Antalya region. It is a Psidian city built at a height of 1050 meters in the Taurus Mountains. Termessos constitutes an unusual synthesis of a large number of rare plants and animal species, which are under protection in the Termessos National Park. When turning off the Antalya-Burdur highway (11 km.) in the direction of Korkuteli, the Termessos signpost will be seen 14 km. further on, and Termessos itself is a further 9 km. A visit to this site requires time and the stamina to walk uphill, because Termessos is built entirely on a mountainous area difficult to access.

The inhabitants of Termessos were known as the Solyms but unlike those of other cities of the time they did not come from the sea and were entirely of Anatolian origin. What is known of their history commences principally at the time that Alexander the Great surrounded the city in 333 B.C., which he likened to an eagle's nest and failed to conquer. Termessos, after a gradual decline, was finally abandoned in the 5th century A.D. Some of the remains found there are the walls, the Hadrian's triumphal arch, the cisterns, the theater, the gymnasium, the agora, the odeon and the heroon. Among the tombs which are scattered far and wide can be seen those of Alcates, Agatemeros and the Lion decorated sarcophagi, which are extraordinary.