Letoon is a sanctuary in a flat green plain, and what you find is mostly water and frogs. The ruins of three temples, dedicated to Leto and her children Apollo and Artemis, stand in the valley of the Eşen river, near the coast of ancient Lycia, and in wet seasons the foundations are flooded, so that the old columns stand in pools full of croaking frogs. According to the story, Leto came here with her twins, thirsty and hunted by Hera, and when local shepherds refused her water, she turned them into frogs.
The sanctuary was the religious centre of the Lycian League, one of the earliest known federations of cities, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, together with nearby Xanthos. In 1973 archaeologists found here a stone with an inscription in three languages: Greek, Aramaic and Lycian, a language that was then almost unknown, and it helped scholars decipher the Lycian tongue. A little theatre and a nymphaeum, a fountain house, survive near the temples, and a modest site museum is open at set hours.
The setting is quiet and rural. Greenhouses of tomatoes and peppers cover much of the plain, and the road passes through small villages where farmers sell fruit by the roadside. Kalkan, a pretty coastal town of about 3,000 people, lies roughly twelve kilometres away, and Kaş is farther, so fill the tank before you go, or in Fethiye. The road along this coast is among the most beautiful in Turkey, with turquoise bays on one side and pine-covered mountains on the other, and the bends can be tight and surprising.
Go in spring, when the wildflowers bloom and the water is high, or in autumn, when the heat has eased. In summer the plain bakes, and the site offers little shade. Bring water, a hat and some patience, and take a moment to sit by the pools, listening to the frogs, and imagine the pilgrims who once came here.