Facing the beauty of Phaselis

Stretching out from the coast about 70 kms from Antalya is the beautiful location of Phaselis. The day was gorgeous, highs in the low sixties, plenty of sunshine. The Dolmus ride was herkie jerky, stopping at every little town along the route with huge package tourist hotels completely empty, the accompanying shops along the streets all boarded up. The views of the Bey mountains were spectacular, snow capped with blue backgrounds

Finally after 2 hours,  I was dropped at the entrance, paid my fee (45TL) and made the 2 km jaunt into the park.  The road was flanked by pine trees, craggy metamorphic rocks and rising slopes to the west, the coastal highway hummed in the background. It winded past a lagoon then made its way towards the sea. Phaselis is famous for its history and scenic beauty but not for its surviving ruins which are rather underwhelming in contrast to other archaeological sites. 

Settled by colonists from Rhodes (690BC), Phaselis has had many different rulers: Persians, Greeks and Romans. Alexander the Great quartered here during the winter in 333BC, the city opening it’s gates without a fight. After his death, Until 160BC, Phaselis was ruled by the Ptolemaic Egyptians, Syrian Seleucids, when it was absorbed into the Lycian union. Then pirates, under Zenecites, overtook the city using it as a staging base for raids until Rome re-established control in 78BC. Roman Emperor Hadrian visited the city in 131AD, the city reaching its zenith in the 2nd century AD, then declining under Byzantine rule, Arab and pirate raids, disease and economic malaise. The city was abandoned by the 13th century. It was home to a Christian Bishopric and apparently the lance of Achilles was exhibited in the Temple of Athena. 

The Phaselitans were traders of wood, lilium oil and roses, sailing the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Historians note that the Phaselsitans were rather “unsavory” and “shrewd” in their trading methods and practices hence making them not very admired. The women wore their hair in a style called a “Sisoe”, reminiscent of the god Isis from Egypt. Plagues of wasps and malaria struck the city, all were blamed on visiting foreign traders. It was said that the Phaselitans didn’t care much for politics, only wealth, so they treated invaders with indifference, as long as they allowed business to continue. 

The site has three harbors, all with beautiful beaches and scenery. The pine forest comes right up to the coast, providing marvelous shade and aesthetics. There was an Agora, Aqueduct, Theater (with a fantastic view)  and a necropolis, all of which rather underwhelming. However the views of the Bey mountains were superb and astounding, the glorious sunshine reinforcing their beauty. This undoubtedly would have been paradise 2000 years ago: fresh fish, water, fertile land and glorious views. I hiked up to the Acropolis, where a Basilica once laid. Using fishing rope to help me up the precarious slope, I was treated to broken rubble, nary a stone still standing, all overgrown with thorny bushes and manzanita (?) trees. But of course the views were dynamite!

I spent about 3 hours at the sight wandering and contemplating life. Then it was time to face the “dolmus beatdown”: 2 kms back to the main highway, 2 hours back on the bus, then an hour tram ride back to my quarters. Very exhausting for a 70km stretch of road…but worth it.