Olympos Archaeological Site

Olympos, whose name means high mountain, is often called the city of the eternal fire. The flames come from the Chimaera, known locally as Yanartaş, where natural gas seeping from the rock burns continuously. Because of them the city became a religious centre, famous for the cult of Hephaistos at nearby Çıralı.

Founded in the Hellenistic period, Olympos was one of the important members of the Lycian League and had three votes in its council. Its sheltered position later made it a haven for pirates, and it was used as a base by the pirate leader Zeniketes, until the Roman commander Servilius Isauricus took the city in 78 BC and made it Roman.

The ruins spread along both banks of a stream, linked by a bridge whose traces are still visible, and are half hidden by dense vegetation. Look for the theatre, the basilica and the bath building, the acropolis on the high hill above the tombs, and its medieval walls. One of the most interesting finds is the sarcophagus of Captain Eudomus, excavated by the Antalya Museum. The most important building is a Byzantine church with frescoes on parts of its inner walls.