Sahilkent – Hasyurt – Kumluca
The entirety of the Lycian road that is within this section progresses on the coast, parallel to the sea. If the travelers wish to do so, they can part from the Lycian path, follow the main road to the Kumluca district and visit the archaeological settlements of Rhodiapolis and Korydalla.
CORYDALLA
Corydalla, which is located in Hacıveliler Village, expands on two hills and their skirts. Corydalla was represented in the Lycian League together with Gagai and Rhodiapolis and even though it was not the largest of the three cities, it was the leader among the three.Most of the ruins, such as the remains of the theatre, which were identified in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, could not survive until our day. The most attention-drawing structures in Corydalla are the bathhouse, waterway, the cisterns on the Small Asar Hill and the Large Asar Hill, rock tombs and a mosaic tiled building of which the walls were built with meticulous workmanship. Rather than the structural remains in it, Corydalla is essentially known for its treasure, which was dug out after an illegal excavation, of which a part was smuggled abroad and which had a special place in the Byzantine metalworking art.
RHODIAPOLIS
The archaeological excavations performed in Rhodiapolis, which is located in the northeast of Kumluca-Sarıcasu Village, on the mountainous curve surrounding the Finike Plains and at an altitude of 300 meters from sea level, indicates that the history of the city goes back to the 5th century BC. The local name of the city, which is referred to as “Rhodia” in ancient resources, is known to be “Wedrei/Wedrenehi” according to Lycian inscriptions.
Rhodiapolis is an important member of the Lycian League, which has experienced its most prosperous era in the Roman period and coined its own money. The Roman period affected this city considerably; during this period, imperial cult halls and majestic special buildings were built and religious ceremonies were conducted in the name of the emperors. Rhodiapolis survived through the Byzantine period as well, and there are many Byzantine remains within the city.
Rhodiapolis was established very successfully on such a narrow and tough terrain. A person sitting on the upper rows of the theatre can see all of the public structures of the city together. The most significant feature of the city is the fact that the water needs for buildings on suitable plains on the rough terrain were met via cisterns. The lack of sufficient water sources is considered to be the most important factor that prevented the city from developing. The water needs of the city were mostly met via the utilization of cisterns. Even though there were very large cisterns with capacities up to 1300 cubic meters, the average capacity of the cisterns in the city was 600 to 700 cubic meters. Clay pipes were used in order to transfer water from cistern to cistern in case of water shortages in some cisterns.
There are many structures that still stand within the city, built of small stones with or without mortar. The structures at various points of the city can be reached via the side streets that were built along the entire main street which connected to the upper city center from the bathhouse at the eastern skirts of the city.
The Roman bathhouse that is at the beginning of the main street is of the traditional Lycian type. The bathhouse, which covers an area of approximately 1100 square meters, was renovated in the Byzantine period. During this period, almost all sections of the bathhouse were used at various levels with different functions.
The most central building of the city is the agora. The agora and the stoa were built in accordance with each other. The floor of the stoa is tiled with mosaics. The seating rows of three steps that extends along the agora and against the two-storey stoa indicate that various activities were performed in the area. Both buildings are dated back to the early 2nd century.
The theatre has an approximate capacity of 1500 people. Its cavea is embedded on the slope. The hollows on the seating rows indicate that the cavea could be covered with tents. The top part of the stage building has collapsed. This Hellenistic period theatre was renovated during the Roman period. Opramoas, who helped rebuild the cities in the entire Lycia region after the earthquake of 141, donated a part of his annual income to the Lycian League and supported festivals and the poor, was the member of a wealthy family in Kumluca. His mother was from Corydalla while his father was from Rhodiapolis.
The famous Opramoas monument is behind the stage building of the theatre. This monument is famous because the inscriptions on it are the second longest inscriptions of the ancient world in Greek. All of the help Opramoas has provided, a list of the occasions on which he has been honored and all of his corresponding with various statesmen are present on this monument. The temple belongs to the 2nd century Roman period. The monument has dimensions of 7.6 x 7 meters and is built of well-made square stone blocks. It has a platform on the side which can be accessed via some steps.
A stoa extends to the stage building of the theatre, along the south and west of the tomb. There are 8 niches along the stoa wall. Excavations have revealed a limekiln which was built in order to turn the quality marble architectural elements and statues of the stoa into lime. The building, which was built 63 meters below of small stones and mortar in the direction of the south and which was preserved as for the remains of it to stand at 6 meters height was dedicated by Opramoas to his father Apollonios and mother Aristocila.
At the upper region from the theatre, to the west, a church of which only the apse survived draws attention. The Imperial cult Hall (Sebasiton) was contracted to be built by Opramoas in the 2nd century. It has two storeys. The floor on which many statues stand in niches has a view of the city center. The niches and the inscription-bearing pedestals of the statues were preserved on the spot while the statues themselves were moved to the Antalya Museum in 1971.
At the southwest of Sebastion, the temple which has been dedicated to the goddess of Fortune, Fortuna stands while the Library which has been contracted to be built by the physician and poet Heracleitas is next to it. Similar to Opramoas, Heracleitas was also a famous, wealthy and charitable person in Kumluca.The excavations carried out in the asclepeion (treatment center) next to the Imperial Cult Hall, which was contracted to be built by Heracleitas as well, revealed that the places designed to be patient rooms were used in the later periods as residences and for other function.
Apart from the temple of Fortuna, tow more temples are known to have existed in the acropolis, at the south end of the stoa. The city’s necropolis areas that belong to the earliest period are the rock tombs of the classical period in the northern valley, on which Lycian inscriptions are present. The Roman period necropolises around the city consist mainly of vaulted tombs and sarcophaguses.There are Lycian type sarcophagus groups on the waster nans western slopes and rock tombs, some of which are ornamented while some are plain, on the rocky terrain around these; Lycian inscriptions are encountered on a few of these rock tombs.
