Antalya - Ancient City of Termessos

Day 7 of our cruise we docked at Antalya in Turkey. As part of our cruise package we had two excursions for free, other wise they are an exorbitant amount!
I chose to go to the Ancient City of Termessos and a walk in the Old Town of Antalya. Neil is never keen on organised tours with having to keep behind the guide, listening to the chatter, it does not suit Rip, Shit & Bust Bully so he had a bit of trepidation about this trip.
It was amazing, even at the start Neil was saying “Good choice Trish”.
We drove about 40mins out of the city and up a mountain to 800m, then we trekked up a rocky gravel path for another 200m to the site of the ancient city on top of the mountain. One couple turned around after about 50m as they said it was too hard for them, that took us down to 16 in our group. Even though this is one of the best preserved ruins in Turkey they are not visited often because of the climb to get there. That made it great for us as we could get a fantastic look around without pushing past bodies.
The city was started in 700BC, it was on a trade route and they survived by charging travellers to go through the city, 6000 people lived there at its peak. In 400AD an earthquake bought the civilisation here to an end. The site has not been changed, it is still the same as when the earthquake happened, they have cleared the scrub and trees away so you can see the ruins.
Borrowed from the internet ➡️ “Here, slowly being worn down by time, are gigantic mausoleums, vast underground cisterns, temples, imposing city walls and a breathtaking theatre perched, like Machu Picchu, on a hilltop that offers views stretching for miles all around”.
At the start of the trek up hill there were remains of what was once an ancient marketplace for the town and along the grand street, instead of shops it was lined with tombs of Termessos’ rich and mighty. The people who passed away at Termessos were buried in sarcophagus at the very top of the surrounding peaks.
We saw massive walls built out of limestone. Apparently all the surrounding hills are limestone so they would cut into the hills above and roll the blocks down to the town. They would make an initial cut with a chisel, then bore some holes to pour water into, the water would expand the rock and it would split apart, then they would shape them. Once down where they wanted them they would roll them on logs into the correct position. Even Alexander the Great could not invade this city, he called it the “Eagle’s Nest”
They built an underground cistern for water, we saw five wells in a row that went down into the cistern, when it rains these still have water in them. Some of the wells were incredibly deep, once dug out they lined them with plaster to stop leaks.
You did have to use your imagination at times to picture what the ruins would have been like in their heyday but I would have loved to have been there to see it. They had a gymnasium, where they trained soldiers and had a bath house and refectory.
I have put a collage of a chap on our tour getting himself into a dangerous position to get a photo, there was a huge drop below him. I told him I have the last photo to exist of him before he plunges so then he does a pose for me 🤦
The highlight was an OMG moment, as we scrambled over huge chunks of marble to the top of the peak we were suddenly looking down on the semi-circle theatre, still largely intact. The back of the theatre dropped steeply down into the valley.
Our guide demonstrated how good the acoustics were by getting one of our younger group members to talk to us from the bottom and you could hear every word. The seats were curved underneath so that when the sound hit them it would come back out into the theatre, so clever. There were holes carved to put umbrellas in. The theatre had capacity for around 4000 people.
I got the tick of approval from Neil, he was as fascinated as I was. As usual the photos cannot replicate the atmosphere and the majesty of it.
Back down the hill into the old town of Antalya and a cold drink at a local Turkish cafe. We visited Hadrian Gate, built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian, it was later incorporated into the walls that surrounded the city and harbour. We saw some lovely mosaic tile floors and the old drainage system is still in use in the old town. The houses are not allowed to be knocked down so they have to renovated. They also cannot be sold, they must stay in the family so consequently there are houses falling down that the family cannot afford to renovate.
My favourite part of this visit was the cat lying in front of the gate and the litter of kittens that were in plain sight.
As it was now 34 degrees we were glad to get back to the ship and have a swim and a lie down.

I will put up an extra post with photos of the old town and some more from Termessos.Read more