Cyaneae, Archaeological site in Antalya Province, Turkey
Cyaneae is an ancient Lycian city set on a ridgeline in Antalya Province, Turkey. The site preserves a theater, residential buildings, rock-cut tombs, and sarcophagi arranged across three distinct sections of the hill.
Cyaneae began as a Lycian settlement in the first millennium BCE and was later shaped by Greek and then Roman rule. During the Byzantine period the site was occupied again, and new construction was added to existing structures.
The rock-cut tombs carry inscriptions in both Lycian and Greek, and you can still read some of them on site today. The different styles of burial monuments show how more than one community lived and practiced their customs in the same place.
The site sits on a hillside with uneven ground, so sturdy footwear is a good idea before heading up. There are no services on site, so bring enough water and leave time to walk between the three separate sections.
One of the sarcophagi at the site carries an inscription that sets a fine for anyone who opens the tomb without permission, a legal protection used across the ancient world. This kind of text gives a direct look at how people in this community thought about death and ownership.
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