Xanthos was the greatest city of ancient Lycia, and its story is one of defiance. In 540 BC the Persian general Harpagus attacked it, and according to the historian Herodotus the Xanthians fought to the last, setting fire to their own homes and perishing together rather than surrender. Centuries later, in 42 BC, Brutus besieged the city during the Roman civil wars, and again the people chose destruction over capture. It is a grim record, and the city remains the symbol of Lycian stubbornness.
The ruins stand on a hillside above the Eşen river, and they include a Roman theatre, a Lycian acropolis, a monumental tomb on a tall pillar and an inscribed stone known as the Xanthos obelisk, whose text in the Lycian language is one of the longest known. The site is part of the UNESCO listing shared with Letoon, a few kilometres away. A small team of archaeologists still works here, and the site is usually open in daylight hours.
Kınık, the closest village, is small and simple, and for fuel you need to travel to Kalkan, thirteen kilometres to the south, or Kaş, much farther along the coast. There are tea gardens near the entrance, where a glass of strong tea and a plate of olives is welcome after a walk among the stones. The surrounding hills are dotted with rock tombs, and some of them can be seen from the road, a startling sight on a dry hillside.
The riding in this part of Turkey is excellent. The coast road, with its views of the sea and its long, tight curves, passes through pine forests and past quiet beaches, and the traffic is light outside the high season. In summer the heat is intense, and a cold drink is as valuable as fuel. Come in spring, when the hills are green and the poppies are in flower, and the old city looks as if it had risen out of the grass.