Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:51 AM Sayfa
Patara
The ancient city of Patara is situated between Fethiye and Kalkan, in the
south west corner of the plentiful Xanthos Valley. Exit off the main road
onto the Gelemifl Road, then drive down this road for five kilometers
until you reach the ruins of Patara. Coins and ceramic fragments
uncovered during recent excavations date the site to the 7 th century BC.
But there is reason to date Patara’s history even further. Patara is
renowned as the birthplace of Apollo and is one of the oldest and most
important cities of Lycia. The Hittite King Tudhalia IV (1250-1220 BC)
was known to have said,
“I made sacrifices and presented votives while facing Patar
Mountain, I erected stelai, and constructed sanctuaries”. This
implies that Patara was known during the Hittite Age as ‘Patar’. As the
principal port along the Lycian coast, Patara has a long history. For this
reason, future excavations are bound to bring the city’s ancient history
to light. We know that the city existed in the 5 th -6 th centuries BC and that
it was saved from destruction when it opened its gates to Alexander.
During the wars of Alexander’s successors, Patara enjoyed considerable
importance as a naval base, in which capacity it was occupied by
Antigonus in 315 BC and by Demetrios at the time of his siege of Rhodes
in 304. For a period, it bore the Egyptian name of Arsinoe; this name did
not survive beyond Egyptian rule. Patara was re-captured by Antiochus
III in 190 BC; Livius uttered the phrase Caput Gentis, meaning, ‘The
Ancestors’ Capital,’ to describe Patara, which exalted it above all the
other cities.
Along with the cities of Xanthos, Tlos, Olympos and Myra, Patara had a
three-vote right in the Lycian League. The league generally held its
assemblies in Patara, which served as its harbor as well. Having
maintained its importance during the Roman Empire, Patara was also
the seat of the Roman provincial governor, who converted it into a port
from which the Roman fleet maintained contact with its provinces in the
east. Concurrently, Patara was the harbor where crops harvested in
Anatolia were stored and later shipped to Rome. As in Adriace, silos
were erected here to store grain during the reign of Emperor Hadrianus,
who had briefly visited Patara with his wife Sabina. During the Roman
A view of the Harbor (Hurmal›k) Bath.
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