Sightseeing: Termessos

Termesos is one of the best preserved of the ancient cities of Turkey. It lies 30 kilometres to the north-west of Antalya. It was founded on a natural platform on top of Güllük Dağı, soaring to a height of 1.665 metres from among the surrounding travertine mountains of Antalya, which average only 200 metres above sea level. Concealed by a multitude of wild plants and bounded by dense pine forests, the side, with its peaceful and untouched appearance, has a more distinct and impressive atmosphere than other ancient cities. Because of its natural and historical riches, the city has been included in a National Park bearing its name.

The first encounter with this city on the stage of history is in connection with the famous siege of Alexander the Great. Arrianos, one of the ancient historians who dealt with this event and recorded the strategic importance of Termessos, notes that even a small force could easily defend it due to the insurmountable natural barriers surrounding the city. Alexander wanted to go to Phrygia from Pamphylia, and according to Arrianos the road passed by Termessos. Alexander wasted a lot of time and effort trying to force the pass which had been closed by the Termessians, and so, in anger he turned toward Termessos and surrounded it. Probably because he knew he could not capture the city, Alexander did not undertake an assault, but instead marched north and vented his fury on Sagalassos.

Termessos was obviously not a port city, but its lands stretched south-east all the way to the Gulf of Attaleia (Alanya). Because the city possessed this link to the sea it was taken by the Ptolemies. It is very surprising that a city which had stood up to the mighty arise of Alexander not forty years before would now accept the sovereignty of the Egyptians.

Termessos was an ally of Rome, and so in 71 B.C. was granted independent status by the Roman Senate; according to this law its freedom and rights were guaranteed.

From the main road, a steep road leads up to the city. From this road once can see the famous Yenice pass, through which wound ancient road that the Termessians called " King Street" as well as Hellenistic period fortification walls, cisterns and many other remains. The city Termessians where the principal official buildings are located lies on a flat area a little beyond the inner walls. The most striking of these structures is the agora, which has very special architectural characteristics. The ground floor of this open-air market place has been raised on stone blocks, and to its north-west five big cisterns have been hollowed out. The agora is surrounded on three sides by stoats. The ruins Iying to the north-east of the agora must belong to the gymnasium, but they are hard to make out among all the trees. Immediately to the east of the agora lies the theatre. Six temples of varying sizes and types have been accounted for at Termessos. A street with wide, shop-lined porticoes ran north-south through the city. The space between the columns of the porticoes was often filled with statues of successful athletes, most of them wrestlers. To the south, west and north of the city, mostly within the city walls, there are large cemeteries containing rock-cut tombs, one is supposed to have belonged to Alcetas himself. The sarcophagi, hidden for centuries among a dense growth of trees south-west of the city, transports one in an instant to the depths of history ceremony, the dead were placed in these sarcophagi along with their clothing, jewellery, and other rich accoutrements. The bodies of the poor were buried in simple stone, clay, or wooden sarcophagi.