Pillar tombs at Xanthos (“Harpy Tomb” on the proper).
Place
Xanthos is not far from Patara and a journey to Letoon or Xanthos from Kalkan, Kaş or Fethiye could effortlessly be put together with a excursion to the beach and/or ruins there. It is found in close proximity to the village of Kınık on a hillside in a lovely purely natural site overlooking the Eşen river. From this elevation just one receives a supreme perspective of the Xanthos Valley surrounded by the impressive Taurus Mountains. It is simple to come across by car or truck, just off the principal highway and perfectly-marked. Xanthos’ landscape is pretty wonderful, in particular in spring.
whc.unesco.org/en/record/484
Superb Universal Worth
Transient synthesis
Manufactured up of two neighboring settlements located in the southwestern portion of Anatolia, respectively inside the boundaries of Antalya and Muğla Provinces, Xanthos-Letoon is a remarkable archaeological advanced. It represents the most distinctive extant architectural instance of the ancient Lycian Civilization, which was one of the most important cultures of the Iron Age in Anatolia. The two websites strikingly illustrate the continuity and exclusive mixture of the Anatolian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine civilizations. It is also in Xanthos-Letoon that the most important texts in Lycian language have been found. The inscriptions engraved in rock or on substantial stone pillars on the internet site are vital for a improved being familiar with of the heritage of the Lycian men and women and their Indo-European language.
Xanthos, which was the funds of ancient Lycia, illustrates the blending of Lycian traditions with the Hellenic impact, particularly in its funerary art. The rock-slice tombs, pillar tombs and pillar-mounted sarcophagi in Xanthos are distinctive examples of historic funerary architecture. Their worth was now regarded in Antiquity and they motivated the art of neighboring provinces: the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus is for occasion instantly affected by the Xanthos Nereid Monument. The fact that some architectural and sculptural pieces of the web-sites were taken to England in the 19th century, like the Monument of Harpy, the Tomb of Payava and the Nereid Monument, led to their term-extensive recognition, and consequently the Xanthos marbles became an significant aspect of the history of ancient artwork and architecture.
East of the Xanthos River (Eşen Çayı), the very first monumental zone consists of the old Lycian Acropolis, which was reworked during the Hellenistic and Byzantine intervals. At that time, a church was built at the northeast corner, when an highly developed defensive framework fortified the western facet of the citadel along the river. Specifically north of the Acropolis stands a really beautiful theatre that dominates the Roman agora. This space also options good Lycian funerary monuments imitating woodwork, which are characteristic of the archaeological landscape of Xanthos and rise up spectacularly from the ruins. There is a next, far more elaborate archaeological zone that extends between the Vespasian Arch to the south and the Hellenistic Acropolis to the north. The lower element of the city, which consists of the Hellenistic Agora and Byzantine churches, was located in this element of the internet site.
Letoon, on the other hand, was the cult heart of Xanthos, the historic federal sanctuary of the Lycian province and Lycian League of Towns. As quite a few inscriptions found at the web-site demonstrate, the federal sanctuary was the spot exactly where all spiritual and political decisions of the ruling powers were declared to the general public. The famed trilingual inscription, relationship back again to 337 B.C., features a textual content inLycian and Greek as well as an Aramaic summary and was found in close proximity to the temple of Apollo. In the sanctuary of Letoon, three temples are committed to Leto, Artemis and Apollo. In addition, the website consists of the ruins of a nymphaeum dating back to Hadrian, built on a water supply that was deemed sacred.
Criterion (ii): Xanthos-Letoon directly motivated the architecture of the principal historic cities of Lycia these kinds of as Patara, Pınara, and Myra, as properly as the neighboring provinces. The Halicarnassus Mausoleum, which was ranked as 1 of the Seven Wonders of the Historical Environment, is right motivated by Xanthos’ Nereid Monument.
Criterion (iii): Xanthos-Letoon bears extraordinary testimony to the Lycian civilization, both equally by way of the lots of inscriptions found at the two web-sites and by means of the amazing funerary monuments preserved inside the home. The longest and most critical texts in the Lycian language were being observed in Xanthos-Letoon. The inscriptions, most of which ended up carved in rock or on substantial monoliths, are considered outstanding proof of this exceptional and lengthy-forgotten Indo-European language. The rock artwork tombs, pillar tombs and pillar-mounted sarcophagi represent a novel sort of funerary architecture. The abundant sequence of Lycian tombs in Xanthos and Letoon permit us to completely recognize the successive acculturation phenomena that took position in Lycia from the 6th century onwards.
Integrity
The inscribed residence includes all the essential attributes, mostly first monuments and archaeological remains, which convey its Outstanding Universal Value. All factors remain largely intact and are not influenced by the negative consequences of tourism or fashionable settlements.
Nowadays, the only aspect threatening the integrity of the home is the paved highway that has crossed the antique city for several many years. Within the framework of the revised Conservation Laws put into drive in 2004, the Regional Council for Conservation of Cultural Heritage determined to close this road in 2010. In addition, wire fence was utilized to encompass the place. Even so, as these actions could not be carried out effectively, further more action is important to make certain that the integrity of the property is no more time impacted. These consist of the rerouting of the highway in accordance to recommendations produced in the Conservation System.
Authenticity
Xanthos-Letoon has retained the authenticity of its features, mainly thanks to the property’s distance from any present day settlement.
The monuments exposed all through archaeological excavations have long gone by significant restoration and conservations will work, which have not impacted their authenticity in terms of structure and layout. The most important challenge was the reconstruction of the temple of Leto in its initial setting in between 2000 and 2007. The architectural items that belonged to the temple of Leto, which had been discovered through excavations carried out due to the fact 1950s, enabled the thriving completion of this venture. Some vital restoration, conservation and consolidation functions had been also carried out on the Early Christian Church and monumental nymphaeum.
Protection and management specifications
The Antique City of Xanthos and Letoon was registered as a 1st diploma archaeological web-site and is matter to Countrywide Conservation Legislation. The inscribed residence is also inside the boundaries of “Environment Safety Zone”, below the accountability of the Ministry of Ecosystem and Urbanization. The Regional Conservation Council and Exclusive Environmental Protection Company approved the conservation approach for Xantos in 2001 and the connected Regional Conservation Council accredited the Conservation Approach for Letoon in 2006. The two arranging resources have been carried out and require systematic monitoring and evaluate to ensure their efficiency for the management of the assets.
The monuments and archaeological stays in the sanctuary of Letoon are threatened by seasonal growing of the floor drinking water desk. Mitigation initiatives had been designed in 2006 with the design of h2o channels to lessen the level of water all through excavation works. A further concern for Letoon is the visible pollution created by several greenhouses in the fertile alluvial lands of the web site. As for Xanthos, the presence of the paved highway reducing through the website necessitates more actions to be totally resolved.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started off is effective for the preparing of a Landscaping Challenge for Xanthos and Letoon that will address the troubles of the property, together with environmental control and the preservation of the monuments. Inside the framework of this project, the site of Letoon will be outfitted with recreation and promenade regions. This job will also handle inquiries of customer administration, acquire consciousness-raising insurance policies, and intention to actively require each the nearby communities and the site visitors.
www.britannica.com/spot/Xanthus
Record
The historical past of Xanthos is quite a violent – the Xanthosians twice shown the intense independence of the Lycian persons when they selected to dedicate mass suicide fairly than post to invading forces. The Xanthosian males established fire to their girls, young children, slaves and treasure on the acropolis in advance of building their remaining doomed attack on the invading Persians. Xanthos was later on repopulated but the similar ugly tale repeated itself in 42 BC when Brutus attacked the metropolis all through the Roman civil wars in buy to recruit troops and elevate revenue. Brutus was shocked by the Lycians’ suicide and made available his troopers a reward for each Xanthosian saved. Only 150 citizens have been rescued.
We built our houses graves
And our graves are homes to us
Our homes burned down
And our graves have been looted
We climbed to the summits
We went deep into the earth
We ended up drenched in drinking water
They arrived and got us
They burned and ruined us
They plundered us
And we,
For the sake of our moms,
Our girls,
And for the sake of our lifeless,
And we,
In the name of our honor,
And our flexibility,
We, the folks of this land,
Who sought mass suicide
We still left a fireplace guiding us,
By no means to die out…
Poem found on a tablet in the Xanthos excavations, translated by Azra Erhat
Posted by Feridun F. Alkaya on 2017-06-26 18:15:54
Tagged: , Xanthos , xanthus , Ksantos , Lycia , Lycian , letoon , UNESCO , unescotentativelist , ”unscotentativelst” , UNC , Un , historical , Roman , Byzantine , ”Worldheritagelist” , Turkey , ”Turkeyancientcity” , ”NGC” , historic , Background , Historic , Hellenic , heritage , ”pillartombs” , ”Eşenriver” , ”eşennehri”
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