Termessos Archaeological Site

Termessos sits in a valley between the peaks of Güllük Mountain, in the south-western part of ancient Pisidia known as Milyas, inside the national park of the same name. Its founders were the Solymi, descendants of the Luwians, one of Anatolia's oldest peoples. The ruins are among the best-preserved of any ancient city because the site was never resettled after it was abandoned, apart from damage from earthquakes and natural forces.

The city entered history in 333 BC, when Alexander the Great besieged it and the Termessians defended it so well that he moved on. It later fell to the Ptolemies, and in 71 BC the Roman Senate confirmed it as a free ally that made its own laws. Nothing is known of its later, Byzantine years.

From the car park a path climbs through the ruins. On the way are the monumental entrance of an Ionic temple from Hadrian's reign, the gymnasium with its colonnaded street and shops, and the agora with a Doric stoa of Attalos II. The theatre leans against the slope with a view towards the Gulf of Antalya, and the council house stands nearby. Southwest of the city lies the House of the Founder, a Roman villa with a Doric façade about six metres high. The cemeteries are just as memorable, including the tomb of Alketas, a commander from Alexander's time, and many sarcophagi. The famous Dog Sarcophagus from here is in Antalya Museum.