# Xanthos: ancient capital of Lycia, Fethiye > Xanthos is the ruined capital of ancient Lycia beside the village of Kınık, 60–65 km from Fethiye, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with nearby Letoon. Entry is €3 for foreign visitors, free under 8. Open daily: 8:30–17:30 from 1 November to 31 March, 8:30–19:00 April to October. An hour is enough — it works best as a stop on the way to Patara. Web page: https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/xanthos - City: [Fethiye](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye), Turkey - YesGo score: 23/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h 15 min - Opening hours: Daily: November–March 8:30–17:30 (last tickets 17:00), April–October 8:30–19:00 (last tickets 18:30) - With kids: Fine with kids - Ticket (foreign visitors): €3, age 8 and over - Children: Under 8 free - Winter: 1 November – 31 March: 8:30–17:30, last tickets 17:00 - Summer: 1 April – 31 October: 8:30–19:00, last tickets 18:30 - Closed: No closing day — open daily - Facilities: Parking, toilets, a café and a small shop - Museum Pass: Whether Museum Pass Türkiye covers it — verifying - From Fethiye: ≈ 60–65 km on the D400, about an hour by car or bus to Kınık - Address: Kınık, Kaş district, Antalya province - Coordinates: 36.35713, 29.31926 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **Capital of Lycia** — the leading city of ancient Lycia, on a hill above the river Xanthos, today’s Eşen (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism) - **1988** — Xanthos and Letoon inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (source: English Wikipedia (Xanthos; Letoon); Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism) - **Longest** — known Lycian inscription — on the Inscribed Pillar by the agora (source: lycianmonuments.com; English Wikipedia (Tombs at Xanthos)) - **c. 540 BC** — besieged by the Persians, the citizens burned their acropolis and died fighting, says Herodotus (source: Herodotus via English Wikipedia; Russian Wikipedia) - **42 BC** — Brutus besieged the city; Plutarch says the people set it on fire themselves (source: English Wikipedia; Plutarch, Life of Brutus) - **1842** — Charles Fellows shipped the finest sculptures to the British Museum (source: lycianmonuments.com; English Wikipedia) - **Harpy Tomb** — a pillar tomb of about 480 BC; the reliefs on site are casts (source: English Wikipedia (Harpy Tomb, Xanthos)) - **Nereid Monument** — the temple-tomb from Xanthos now stands complete in the British Museum (source: English Wikipedia; lycianmonuments.com) - **4 km** — to Letoon, the sanctuary of Leto and the other half of the UNESCO site (source: English Wikipedia (Letoon); Tonkosti travel guide) - **3 languages** — on the Inscribed Pillar: Lycian, Milyan and Greek (source: English Wikipedia (Xanthian Obelisk); lycianmonuments.com) ## 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. > **Almost no shade on the hill** The ruins sit on an exposed hilltop and the stones heat up fast. In summer come at opening time or after 16:00 with water and a hat. Mind the ticket cut-off: 17:00 in winter, 18:30 in summer — after that you won’t get in. ## How to get to Xanthos from Fethiye 1. From the Paspatur old bazaar by the harbour, walk 5 minutes to the dolmuş station by the Yeni Cami mosque and take a town dolmuş to Fethiye otogar (bus station), about 10 minutes. 2. At the otogar, catch a bus heading for Kalkan or Kaş along the D400 and tell the driver “Kınık, Xanthos”. 3. Get off in Kınık after about an hour. Alternatively, the Kumluova–Karadere dolmuş from the dolmuş station passes the Xanthos turn-off. 4. From Kınık follow the Xanthos signs to the hill — 10–15 minutes on foot; the last stretch is steep, with the ticket office on the right. 5. To return, take a Fethiye-bound bus from the small Kınık bus station. Ask your driver about the last departure on the way out. ## 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](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/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](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/saklikent-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](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/lycian-way) over the Eşen bridge. Pleasant in spring and autumn, hard work in July heat. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] I’ll reach the ticket office before 17:00 (winter) or 18:30 (summer) - [ ] Water and a hat — there’s hardly any shade - [ ] Shoes for rough stones and a steep path - [ ] Cash or card for the ticket - [ ] I know the last bus back to Fethiye - [ ] Decided whether to add Letoon and Patara ## Xanthos vs Patara vs Tlos | | Xanthos | Patara | Tlos | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Ancient capital of Lycia | Lycian League capital and port | City on a crag above the valley | | Highlights | Pillar tombs, theatre | Council hall, theatre, lighthouse | Rock-cut tombs, fortress | | Beach | No | Yes, ≈ 18 km of sand | No | | Time needed | ≈ 1 h | ≈ 3 h with the beach | ≈ 1.5 h | | Pairs well with | Patara and Letoon | Xanthos | Saklıkent | 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](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/tlos). ## Ancient sites near Fethiye compared Every historic site around Fethiye rated by YesGo. - [Tomb of Amyntas](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/tomb-of-amyntas) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · €3 for foreign visitors, under-8s free - [Kayaköy](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/kayakoy) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · €3 for foreign visitors - [Patara](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/patara) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ≈ €15 (foreign visitors), ruins + beach - [Xanthos](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/xanthos) — YesGo score 23/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · €3 foreign visitors, under 8 free - [Tlos](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/tlos) — YesGo score 22/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · €3 for foreign visitors ## Lycia in a day: Tlos, the gorge, Xanthos and Patara Tlos and the cool gorge in the morning, a short stop at Xanthos after lunch, the evening on Patara beach. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Tlos](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/tlos) — YesGo score 22/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · €3 for foreign visitors 2. [Saklıkent Gorge](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/saklikent-gorge) — YesGo score 20/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Entry 85–120 TL, verifying 3. [Xanthos](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/xanthos) — YesGo score 23/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · €3 foreign visitors, under 8 free 4. [Patara](https://yesgo.io/turkey/fethiye/patara) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ≈ €15 (foreign visitors), ruins + beach > **The originals are in London** The Harpy Tomb reliefs, the Nereid Monument and the Tomb of Payava from Xanthos are all in the British Museum. Seen the site first? The Lycian rooms there will make far more sense. ## Good to know Xanthos, Xanthus and Ksantos are the same place, and Xanthos is also the ancient name of the Eşen river. Achilles’ horse and the river god of the Iliad share the name but have nothing to do with the ruins. There are other villages called Kınık in Turkey — you want the one in Kaş district. ## Tips - 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 ### How much is the Xanthos entrance fee? €3 for foreign visitors aged 8 and over; children under 8 go free. Turkish citizens pay a lira fare. ### What are the Xanthos opening hours? Open daily. 1 November–31 March: 8:30–17:30, last tickets 17:00. 1 April–31 October: 8:30–19:00, last tickets 18:30. ### How do I get to Xanthos from Fethiye? Take a Kalkan- or Kaş-bound bus from Fethiye otogar to Kınık, about an hour, then walk 10–15 minutes uphill. By car it’s about an hour on the D400. ### Is Xanthos worth visiting? Yes, as an hour-long stop on the way to Patara, especially if you’re interested in Lycia. It isn’t worth the trip from Fethiye on its own. ### How long do you need at Xanthos? About an hour for the theatre, the tombs and the agora; an hour and a half with the acropolis and basilica. ### Where is Xanthos? Beside the village of Kınık in Kaş district, Antalya province — between Fethiye and Kalkan, 60–65 km from Fethiye and a few kilometres from the Patara turn-off. ### What is the Harpy Tomb? A Lycian pillar tomb of about 480 BC with a burial chamber on top, named after the winged figures in its reliefs. The originals are in the British Museum; casts are on site. ### How far is Letoon from Xanthos? About 4 km by road — roughly 5 km on foot along a section of the Lycian Way. Together they form one UNESCO World Heritage Site. ### Why are the Xanthos sculptures in the British Museum? Charles Fellows shipped them to London in 1842, including the Nereid Monument and the Harpy Tomb reliefs. ## How we checked Fares, seasonal hours, facilities and the address come from the official Turkish Ministry of Culture museums page, which lists no closing day. Other facts are checked against at least two sources. Sources date the Harpy Tomb differently — around 480 BC or the mid-6th century BC; we follow English Wikipedia and the British Museum (480 BC). The year the sculptures reached the museum also varies (1842 or 1848), so we say they were shipped in 1842. Distances from Fethiye range from 40 to 65 km in different sources; we give 60–65 km by road and mark it “verifying”, as with the bus routes and Museum Pass. Letoon is described without fares or hours: we found no official figures. ## Sources - Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, museums portal: Antalya Xanthos Ören Yeri — hours, seasons, fares, facilities, 30.10.2026 - English Wikipedia: Xanthos, Xanthian Obelisk, Harpy Tomb, Letoon; Russian Wikipedia: Ксанф (город); Wikidata Q464936 - Lycian Monuments (lycianmonuments.com): Xanthos - Herodotus, Histories, Book I; Plutarch, Life of Brutus — as summarised in encyclopedias - Tonkosti travel guide: Xanthos and the Letoon temple - Turkey for Life: the Letoon to Xanthos walk and dolmuş routes from Fethiye --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.