On The Lycian Way

The lands on which the Lycians lived benefited greatly from the lush Mediterranean climate. The Lycian settlements, stretching along the coast from the west of Antalya to Fethiye, and northwards to Elmalı, amidst the Taurus Mountains, are unique in terms of their location. When we hit the road for our documentary on Lycia, we started to follow both the visible and hidden traces of the Lycians, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus Mountains. In addition to ancient sources and the discoveries and researches of travellers of the 18th century and afterwards, we have also tried to reflect what we saw and experienced ourselves. Besides our long trips along the Lycian Way and the coast from Fethiye to Antalya, we also discovered many more Lycian settlements hidden amidst the peaks of the Taurus Mountains. We reached the peaks of these cities after tiring hikes. We experienced great pride in their magnificent monuments. We hummed world melodies in their ancient theatres. We saw the new faces of the cities, re-erected after scientific excavations. We looked for the traces of the Lycians on the ancient streets and roads that were brought to light hundreds of years later. Then, we observed their remnants in various museums in Turkey, such as the Fethiye Museum, the Museum of Lycian Civilizations, the Antalya Museum, the Telmessos Museum, the Elmalı Museum, the Burdur Museum and the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, as well as in international museums such as the British Museum
and Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. In this documentary book, we discuss 10 museums displaying Lycian finds, as well as 96 ancient cities, villages, mounds and tumuli. Besides the ancient settlements that have been identified, known and researched, we also stopped by many small village-like settlements – that are most probably associated with the nearby cities – on the Taurus plateaus. We were hosted in the houses of Yörüks (nomads), who live nested within the ancient settlements in those plateaus.

We came across the traces of Lycian life in modern villages. For instance, the storehouses that villagers still use to store their grain and suppliesbear such traces. As we were travelling, we were in and out of the Lycian borders. We caught glimpses of their interactions with their neighbours. Weobserved the similarities and differences between the cultures of Pisidia, Caria and Pamphylia. The documentary *On the Lycian Way* is just a part of today’s evidence of the mysterious lands of Anatolia. Seeing the efforts of the scientists in protecting the remnants from the destruction of man and nature over the course of centuries raised our hopes with joy. In addition to the new cover and interior design, this revised and updated 2nd edition of the book also includes new sections; the Museumof Lycian Civilizations which opened at Andriake in 2016, the Uluburun shipwreck and the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, the Girmeler Cave and the settlements within the radius of Tlos, which welcome the travellers in the shadow of Akdağlar are among the newly added sections. The changes we’ve encountered on site during our travels in the Lycian cities during this span of 6 years between the two publications, are also reflected on the pages of this revised edition. It is time to set foot on the Lycian Way to discover and follow the traces of our world heritage… We will build up many unforgettable memories toshare on thesetravels…