Olympos (Lycia)
Coordinates: 36 ° 23 ′ 46.4 " N , 30 ° 28 ′ 27.7" E
Olympos is an ancient city on the east coast of Lycia ( Asia Minor , Turkey ) - now called Deliktaş (Turkish for perforated stone ). The name is derived from Mount Olympos, today's Tahtalı Dağı , at the foot of which the city was located. Little is historically tangible of the once important city of the Lycian League , and the ruins are more fascinating due to their picturesque location on a stream near the beach.
location
Today, Olympos belongs to the district of Yazır of the city of Kumluca in the province of Antalya . It is around 72 km from the city of Antalya and, like Phaselis , is located in the Olimpos Beydağları National Park . The city and today's open-air museum are located on both sides of the Akçay River , also called Olympos Çayı , and at its mouth to the east into the sea. The river is now heavily filled with sediment and flows only sparsely in the summer months, although it often swells strongly in winter. The beach of Çıralı connects to the north of this estuary . On the land side of the city (towards the west) there is a deep gorge that opens after about 3 kilometers.
history
Olympos was founded as a mountain town on what is now called Musa Dağı mountain south of its port Korykos . Buildings and coinage suggest a foundation in the Hellenistic period.
By the end of the 2nd century BC In BC, Olympos was an important member of the Lycian League and had a triple vote. However, when a certain Zeniketes took power in Olympos and positioned himself against the Roman Empire, the city was released from the league and Zenikites declared a pirate . According to the latest findings, it can be assumed that Zenikites was a local prince. 77 BC Zenikites was defeated by Publius Servilius Vatia (Isauricus) and when he saw no way out in his fortress on Mount Olympus, he set his house on fire and burned himself and his family.
It is documented that Olympos was again a member of the Lycian League in the 2nd century AD. Inscriptions on the tomb of Markus Aurelius Arkhepolis indicate that he exercised the position of Lykiarch (President of the Lycian League).
Olympos was famous for its cult for Hephaestus , which can be seen in direct connection with the nearby " eternal fires " of the Chimaira .
From around 130 AD, the mountain town was named Hadrianopolis after Emperor Hadrian . The reason for this was the stagnation of the mountain town while the port flourished in the peace of the Roman Empire. In the years 141 and 240 AD, Olympos and various other cities in the region were hit by strong earthquakes. In the 3rd century AD, Olympos is mentioned as a bishopric. Further earthquakes occurred in 542 and repeated themselves irregularly until the 8th century. Venice , Genoa and Rhodes took the city during the Crusades in the 11th and 12th centuries . It is very likely that they used both the Acropolis and the Genoese castle on the eastern bank of the city, which they also expanded for defense. In 1346 and 1347, in addition to several cities in the region, Olympus was hit by various plague epidemics, which in places wiped out up to 50% of the population. After the occupation by the Ottomans in the 15th century, there was no longer any settlement. In the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as at the beginning of the 20th century, the city was used by nomadic Yörüken as winter quarters.
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Between 1811 and 1812, Francis Beaufort reached the Olympos with the ship Frederikssteen under his command. He summarized the observations of the trip along the Mediterranean coast in the book "Karamania, a brief description of the South Coast of Asia Minor and of the Remains of Antiquity" published in 1817 (in German: Karamania, or a brief description of the south coast of Asia Minor and its ancient remains ) together. Olympos and Çıralı appear there as two parts of a locality that cannot be clearly separated from each other.
According to the lore of the local population of Yazır , around 1850 a man named Kıbrıslı Hacı Hasan built a water mill on the southern port road, using building materials from the ancient buildings.
The lack of modern settlement means that large parts of the old building fabric have been preserved.
ruins
For a long time completely forgotten, Olympos lies on both sides of a river bed where the remains of a bridge can still be seen that connected the two parts of the city. The remaining building remains have fallen into disrepair and largely overgrown, such as the small Roman theater. A former lake is now swampy - here are the remains of a temple from the 2nd century AD. The necropolis is remarkable with numerous tombs and inscriptions , but which have no Lycian features.
In addition to the remains of a Byzantine basilica , remains of settlement on a hill testify to the impoverishment of the settlement in the Middle Ages. In addition, there are sarcophagi uncovered in the course of the excavation campaign from 2000 to 2006 , which, however, show considerable damage.
Deliktaş
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There is a rock passage on the beach, which today is about two meters high and can easily be bypassed on the beach. Beaufort describes this passage as the "only path that leads into the adjacent valley" and leads the local name Deliktaş (in English Lochstein) back to it:
The name of the village is Deliktash , or the "Perforated Rock," so called from a natural gateway in one of the above points, through which passes the only road that leads to the adjacent valley.
The name of the village is Deliktash , or the "broken rock", so named after a natural passage in one of the rocks mentioned above, through which the only path leads into the adjacent valley.
Above the passage there are still remains of concrete roof tiles, which suggest a larger roof. Due to the silting up, the passage is about 20 m away from the water, although after occasional winter storms the watershed extends to the rock, so that it is actually the only access from the beach again. It is therefore to be expected that the actual path through the rock will be much deeper than today's silting suggests.
Entrance complex
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This so-called entrance complex is located just behind the entrance to the open-air museum and thus on the north side of the city. It consists of 11 rooms and studies suggest that the building had another floor above it with 11 rooms. Probably the most important architectural feature are the two arcades that run along the entire north and south sides of the building. They can be entered via five round arches and form a kind of canopy for the actual entrances behind them. The corridor on the south side was probably used to observe the river. Architectural analysis and finds suggest that the building was used for residential purposes and for the production and trade of food in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. It was probably not built according to a specific plan, but expanded as required and therefore represents an important testimony to daily life in ancient Olympus.
temple
To the north of the city are the remains of a building that was identified as a temple by early explorers of the region, George Bean and Cevdet Bayburtoğlu, because of the monumental gate and architectural features on the front. The inscription on the remains of a statue in front of the building indicates that it was built around 175 BC. Chr. It is also clear from this inscription that the statue was erected in honor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius . The only well-preserved structure is the aforementioned gate with a height of 4.88 m, which is decorated on the sides of the lintel with acanthus ornaments and an unfinished row of a pearl motif. Noteworthy is the exposed brickwork that can be found in several Lycian cities.
Necropolis in the north of the city
In contrast to the necropolis in the south of the city, the individual grave structures are not connected to each other, but consist of individual buildings. 113 graves could be identified. Burials were made from the 1st century to the middle of the 3rd century. From the 4th century onwards, residential buildings with large courtyards were built for the wealthy citizens of the city along the road that runs through the necropolis. Some of these buildings are close to the tombs, some were built from the same material. The northern necropolis received its current form from the 5th century.
Alcestis sarcophagus (southern necropolis)
The richly decorated Alcestis sarcophagus of Aurelius Artemias and his family is made of local limestone. It is located in the southern necropolis and the capstone imitates the roof of a house and its attic . Reliefs on the sarcophagus show Eros , Nike and the head of Medusa . On a tabula ansata there are Greek inscriptions about the owners of the sarcophagus. Underneath is a " Dextrarum Junctio " scene (handshake) between woman and man, which symbolized a marriage in ancient Rome. On the short side, next to a female figure with a chiton / himation, the healing and oracle god Heracles , as well as a winged male figure above it (see picture). The sarcophagus is dated between 180 and 200 AD.
Associated places in the immediate vicinity
Üç Adalar archipelago
The underwater nature reserve Üç Adalar (Turkish for three islands ) is about 9.3 km away . The uninhabited islands are about 3 km from the shore of Tekirova and are almost exactly in the middle between Olympos and Phaselis . Archaeological research has shown that the islands have been visited by ships on the route from the eastern to the central and western Mediterranean for 5000 years as protection from storms. The artefacts found include a Bronze Age three-hole stone anchor, as well as Roman or Byzantine anchors. Three shipwrecks from Roman and Byzantine times could also be identified. Numerous amphorae and their remains can be found around the islands, most of which have grown together with the reefs and can no longer be recovered.
Chimaira
Main article: Chimaira (Lycia)
A few kilometers away and behind the beach of Çıralı is Chimaira, a place known since antiquity, where a rare, millennia-old natural phenomenon can still be observed today. From the rocky bottom of a mountain slope flames burst out in several places - the "eternal fires of the fire-breathing Chimaira ", which gave the place its name. Olympos was not least famous for the Hephaestus cult there.
Lycian way
Main article: Lycian Way
The old trade route between Fethiye and Antalya crosses the open-air museum between the beach in the north and the necropolis in the south. It has been accessible and marked again since 1999 and is one of the most popular cultural routes in the Mediterranean.
Modern times
Today two households with a total of around 10 people still live in the open-air museum in the area of the northern necropolis.
Today, Olympos is a popular destination for backpackers who stay in one of the many tree house hotels in the long gorge in front of the open-air museum. The term tree house , which comes from the Turkish Ağaç evleri (also translated as wooden houses ), is generally used for the accommodation in the gorge, although most of the buildings are rustic bungalows on the ground. Nevertheless, due to their unusual design, they received mentions on the National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel . Because of the alternative atmosphere, Lonely Planet also calls Olympos a hippy-trail hot-spot , although there is now a capacity of around 3500 guests in 100 accommodations. All guests have to pass through the open-air museum to reach the beach of Olympos and Çıralı, which is especially populated during the holiday season.
Olympos can be reached from the Kemer - Kumluca road (E90) by Dolmuş . During the holiday season it is possible to take the bus to Chimaira near Çıralı at night.
Flora and fauna
The ruins and the entire valley are very heavily covered by subtropical vegetation, especially overgrown with laurel trees, which not least contributes to the exotic atmosphere and popularity. The region is known for many endemic plant species. The beach of Olympos and Çıralı is a breeding and sanctuary for sea turtles.
Hotel fire in 2007
On the afternoon of February 7th, 2007, a fire broke out in the then 20-year-old and thus the oldest and most famous tree house hotel in the gorge, in which 100 bungalows, 15 cabins and 10 tree houses were destroyed. The fire was extinguished by the local fire brigade after two hours and, according to the fire fighters, it was only a coincidence that the fire could not spread to the surrounding area and endangered the excavation site.
Great Fire 2008
On August 2, 2008, a fire broke out in the immediate vicinity of Olympos, which could only be extinguished after five days using 345 people, 38 explosive devices, 6 helicopters, 2 aircraft and 2 bulldozers. The stake had a financial volume of YTL 5,333,169. The fire destroyed an area of 295 hectares, all of which was reserved for afforestation and rehabilitation. Among other things, 5188 carob trees, 2150 cypresses, 12,200 pines and 1771 oaks were planted. The ancient site of Olympos was not damaged.
2009 flood
In the early morning of October 14, 2009, in Olympos, 130.8 kg / m² of rain fell within eight hours, which led to the flooding of numerous buildings, as well as 70 vehicles and tractors washed into the river and through the open-air museum into the sea. Several modern buildings in the gorge were torn away and destroyed.
Forest fire 2016
On June 26, 2016, a forest fire broke out in Adrasan, which, thanks to the strong wind, quickly spread towards Olympos. Olympos was then evacuated and access to the open-air museum was prohibited. The fire could only be extinguished with the use of numerous fire-fighting planes and helicopters, heavy clearance vehicles such as 100 explosive vehicles, 20 bulldozers and more than 500 helpers across the country. Seven houses were destroyed by the fire and numerous farm animals were killed. According to the head of the forestry office İsmail Üzmez, around 300 hectares of pine forest fell victim to the fire. For the first time, a self-developed method was used to extinguish the fire, in which the fire was pushed onto Mount Musa Dağı by a counterfire , the vegetation of which had already been damaged in another fire a few years earlier. Due to the containment of the fire at the entrance to the gorge and thus shortly before the excavation site, it was not damaged. This event caused a national sensation and induced the then Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, to inspect the rescue work on site.
Sinan Sertel's murder in 2019
Around mid-April there was a heated discussion between Sinan Sertel (32), assistant head of the excavation team, and another person of the same age who was accused of illegally felling trees. The accused invited Sertel to a conversation on May 19, 2019, during which he seriously injured the latter with a knife on the adjacent beach in Çıralı. Sertel died on the way to the hospital.
Sertel came from Safranbolu in Karabük and was at the time a PhD student at the Faculty of History and Geography at Ankara University. He was involved in excavations in the area for seven years.
Picture gallery
overall view
Bridge piers
The sarcophagus of Captain Eudemos in the burial chamber under the Acropolis
Roman bath
The polygonal city wall
theatre
Lycian hemidrachm from Olympos
Roman bath
Detail of a temple inscription
literature
- George Ewart Bean : Olympos (Deliktaş) Turkey . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ B. Yelda Olcay Uçkan and Seçkin Evcim: Arkeolojik alanlarda laser ölçümle belgeleme ve kent oluşturma üzerine bir örnek: Olympos antique kenti In: Akademik Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi , Year 3, No. 16, September 15, 2015. [1] .
- ↑ Mustafa Adak: Localization of Olympos and Korykos in Eastern Lycia. In: Gephyra , Vol. 1 (2004) PDF .
- ↑ a b Diverse: A Pirates' Town in Lycia - Olympos, an archaeological guide . Homer Kitabevi ve Yayıncılık Ltd. Şti., 2006, ISBN 975-8293-95-8 , pp. Istanbul .
- ^ A b Francis Beaufort: Karamania. 1817, accessed February 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Doç. Dr. B. Yelda Olcay Uçkan: Olympos . In: Kumluca Belediyesi (ed.): Kumluca - Rhodiapolis, 50. Kuruluş Yıldönümü anısına . Antalya 2008, ISBN 978-975-7094-16-6 , pp. 101-112 .
- ↑ Olympos Kazısı: 04. The Entrance Complex. Retrieved April 6, 2017 .
- ↑ Olympos excavation site (Olympos Kazısı) Sign: Northern necropolis
- ↑ Olympos excavation site (Olympos Kazısı) Sign: Alcestis sarcophagus
- ↑ Dr. Hakan Öniz: Deniz Haber: GATAB sualtı arkeoloji envanterini çıkarıyor. October 7, 2012, accessed April 2, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ a b Haberler.com: Olympos'taki Ağaç Evler Kül Oldu. February 8, 2007, Retrieved April 14, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ Lonely Planet: Turkey Olympos. Accessed April 2, 2017 .
- ↑ CNN Türk: Antalya'da tatil cennetinde yangın. Olimpos boşaltılıyor. June 26, 2016, Retrieved April 3, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ Sign in Yazır near Olympos, on the road connecting Olympos and Adrasan
- ↑ Saffet Yenigün: Hürriyet: Olimpos'ta otomobiller denize sürüklendi. October 14, 2009, Retrieved April 3, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ HaberTürk: Adrasan'daki yangın kontrol altına alındı. June 27, 2016, Retrieved April 3, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ Özgür Gündem: Olympos'ta yangın tehdidi. June 27, 2016, Retrieved April 3, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ Tourexpi: Olimpos cehennemi yaşıyor - Turistler kaçıyor. June 27, 2016, accessed April 6, 2017 (Turkish).
- ↑ Sinan Sertel Olympos Antik Kenti'nde neden öldürüldü? Arkeolog Sinan Sertel cinayetinde son durum nedir? In: Star. May 20, 2019, accessed February 1, 2020 (Turkish).
- ↑ Arkeolog 'ağaç kesme' yüzünden öldürüldü. In: Sabah. May 20, 2019, accessed February 1, 2020 (Turkish).
- ↑ Olympos Kazısı - Ekip. Retrieved February 1, 2020 (Turkish).