Lycia came to occupy most of the Teke Peninsula at the southwest corner of Anatolia, roughly defined as the area of Turkey lying south of a line drawn from Dalyan to Antalya. Its nature is lush, it is densely-forested and the landscape is mountainous and very dramatic.
Southwest Turkey, along and inland from the popular "Turquoise Coast", was home to the ancient Lycians who were one of the most enigmatic people of antiquity. Although little historical record has been left behind them, what has been discovered reveals fascinating people culturally distinct from the rest of the ancient world. Around twenty major sites remain today with the Lycians' unusual funerary architecture dominating the breathtaking unspoiled land of Lycia.
The steep geography of Lycia sharply divides the land into river valleys, coastal plains and several upland basin-shaped valleys (characteristic throughout the Taurus mountain range) which offer good pasture for sheep.
Three great mountain chains determine access to and within Lycia - in the west two spurs of the western Taurus Mountains (karstic), the Boncuk Daglari and the Baba Dagi (one of the best places in the world for paragliding), and in the east the greatest range of all, the Bey Daglari, standing well over 3,000 metres. Right into early summer one can see snow atop the two highest peaks in Lycia, Akdağ and Bey Daği. The Lycians were really locked into their country as these three ranges cut off Lycia from neigboring Caria to the north and Pamphylia to the east and join in the north of Lycia to form a plateau. This plateau, along with a lower range of mountains, served to cut off Lycia from central Anatolia.
Travel was much restricted within Lycia itself, because of these mountain ranges, and access to many parts of the country was practical only by traveling along the coast. The valley of the Xanthos River (Xanthos Valley) which formed one of the main land communications routes (then and today) could be reached from central Lycia only via Kalkan (ancient Phoenicus) or through the Seki Plain via Oenoanda. Both ways came through the other land communication route of the Elmalı Plain (in the Elmalı Basin), the largest of the upland plains of Lycia. Ancient roads ran from central Anatolia through mountains to this plain and then down to to coastal cities such as Antiphellos, Limyra and Myra. This area contains many little-excavated sites, some dating back as far as the third millenium BC or earlier. The area was once rich with natural resources. The Akçay River (the largest in northern Lycia) and two lakes (one now drained) were here and irrigated fields when they regularly overflowed and the water-table was high and provided plenty of drinking water. Large cedar forests were nearby as well. In antiquity people here made their living from fishing, hunting, farming and the production of reed articles.
Lycia has only two rivers of note: the Xanthos River and the Limyrus, which enters the sea near Limyra. At the mouths of these rivers are alluvial plains, the only level ground in Lycia.
The Xanthos River was the longest and largest river in Lycia and the main water supply for many of the Lycian cities. It begins about 25 miles inland and empties into the sea at beautiful Patara beach. Strabo reports the original name of the river as Sibros or Sirbis. During the Persian invasion the river is called Sirbe which means "yellow" like the Greek word "xanthos", which also means yellow. The river usually has a yellow hue because of the soil in the alluvial base of the valley. In Lycian times, like today, the river provided the people of the Xanthos Valley with rich, fertile soil for planting as well as plenty of wildlife. Today wheat, cotton, tobacco, sesame, corn, aniseed, citrus fruits, pomegranates and grapes are grown in valley, as well as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and cucumbers in the many greenhouses seen throughout.
The Xanthos Valley is long and relatively wide for river valleys in Lycia - fifteen to twenty kilometers across for most of its length. Communication between cities in the valley was easy and this area was the political center of Lycia for much of antiquity. Four of the most important cities of Lycia were located here: Tlos, Xanthos, Pinara and Patara, most of them located on the slopes of the flanking mountain ranges.
