Xanthos: ancient capital of Lycia, Fethiye

Xanthos entrance fee and opening hours

Foreign visitors aged 8 and over pay €3; under-8s go free. Turkish citizens pay a lira fare or use MüzeKart. It is one of the cheapest tickets on the coast and worth it even for half an hour at the theatre.

The site is open every day. From 1 November to 31 March it runs 8:30–17:30 with last tickets at 17:00; from 1 April to 31 October it is 8:30–19:00, last tickets 18:30. Buy at the ticket office on the approach road or on the Turkish Ministry of Culture’s website — there is rarely a queue.

Letoon, 4 km away, is a separate site with its own gate; your Xanthos ticket doesn’t cover it.

Is Xanthos worth visiting?

Yes — as part of a day, not on its own. The drive from Fethiye is longer than the visit, so make Xanthos an hour-long stop on the way to Patara, whose turn-off is a few kilometres further along the same road.

If Lycia interests you at all, don’t skip it: nowhere else will you see pillar tombs this tall, with burial chambers raised high above the ground. If ancient stones leave you cold, choose Patara instead — ruins and a huge beach in one place.

Tours from Fethiye usually bundle Xanthos with Patara and Saklıkent Gorge. That’s convenient, but you get little time at each. A hire car is the best option: you can add Letoon and still catch sunset on Patara beach.

A short history of Xanthos

Xanthos was the leading city of Lycia, a league of cities along this coast. It stands above the river the Greeks called Xanthos — the Eşen today — next to the village of Kınık, which gives the site its Turkish name.

Twice the city chose destruction over surrender. Around 540 BC, Herodotus says, the Persian general Harpagus laid siege; the Xanthians burned their acropolis with their families inside and the men died in a last sortie. In 42 BC, under siege by Brutus, it happened again, as Plutarch tells it.

The British traveller Charles Fellows shipped the best sculpture to London in 1842. That’s why you’ll find casts and empty plinths on site, while the originals fill the Lycian rooms of the British Museum.

What to see at Xanthos

• The Roman theatre by the entrance — curved rows with the best view over the valley, the acropolis and the mountains.
• The Harpy Tomb, just west of the theatre — a tall pillar with a burial chamber on top. The winged figures in relief are casts; the originals of about 480 BC are in London.
• Next to it, a Lycian sarcophagus on a pillar — a house-shaped tomb with a tall lid, raised on a plinth.
• The Inscribed Pillar by the agora — Lycian text on all four sides, the longest known, with Greek verses too.
• The site of the Nereid Monument near the south gate — only the foundations remain; the temple-tomb itself is in the British Museum.
• The Byzantine basilica and the acropolis above the Eşen river.

Xanthos and Letoon

With a car, add Letoon, 4 km south near Kumluova — together the two make up the UNESCO site. It was the sanctuary of the goddess Leto and her children Apollo and Artemis: three temples side by side, a theatre and a nymphaeum that sits in water for part of the year.

On foot it’s about 5 km on a flat road between the two, a section of the Lycian Way over the Eşen bridge. Pleasant in spring and autumn, hard work in July heat.

Xanthos vs Patara vs Tlos

Xanthos is a short stop on the way to Patara. Only one day and want the sea? Make Patara the main event; heading for the gorge? Pick Tlos.

Ancient sites near Fethiye compared

Every historic site around Fethiye rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Put Xanthos in the middle of the day between Tlos and Patara — an hour for the ruins, the rest by the sea.
• Start at the top of the theatre: from there you can see where the tombs, agora and acropolis lie.
• The first hour after opening brings soft light and an empty hill.
• With a car, add Letoon — just 4 km, and Lycia starts to make sense as a whole.
• Don’t spend half a day on Xanthos alone — without Patara or Letoon the drive isn’t worth it.
• With kids, make it a hunt: find the harpies on the reliefs and the tallest pillar tomb.

Questions