Some of the important structures you will see in the ancient city of Patara are the Roman Triumphal Arch, temples, a necropolis area, a lighthouse, bouleuterion (parliament building), the city gate, a theater building, churches, baths (Nero Bath, Vespasian Bath), the granarium (granary), and warehouses.
In fact, the ruins of the city of Patara start before even arriving in Gelemiş village. Lycian type sarcophagi and Roman Period sarcophagi in the city’s necropolis can be seen before you arrive at the site.
There is a magnificent Triumphal Arch that can be seen from the roadside, 2 km after Gelemiş village, which was built in the late 1st century AD. The theater on the slope of the hill was built during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius. There is also a Temple of Athena on the hill.
Patara’s Lighthouse is believed to be the oldest lighthouse in the world and was built in 60 AD.
Patara was the capital city of the Lycian League. It is one of the six cities in the Lycian League that had three voting rights. The Council of the Lycian League is thought to be the world’s first democratic council.
The History of Patara
Patara became famous in antiquity as an oracle center of Apollo. It was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. After his death, it was occupied by Antigone I until it was passed onto the domain of the Ptolemies of Egypt, who enlarged it and gave it the name Arsinoé, which was the name of the wife of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Then, it was conquered by Rome.
It was Christianized at the beginning of Christianity, and several bishops of early Christianity were born in Patara. During the Byzantine Empire, it remained an important center for trade and pilgrimage.
At the end of the 18th century, travelers rediscovered Lycia, including the ruins of Patara. Marie Gabriel Florent Auguste de Choiseul Gouffier was the first Western scholar to have visited the site. Then Charles Texier came to Patara in 1836 and described the theater, the Stadttor gate of Mettius Modestus, the “Corinthian temple”, and the tombs.
