The famous rock-cut temple tombs at Kaunos in Caria

I am writing this post on a gulet, just off the coast of Caria, the historical region that forms the southwest corner of Turkey.

Caria is mentioned quite frequently in this blog. During the last 15 months, we have described one of its most appealing ancient sites, Stratonikeia, mused about the archaeological mysteries of the unexplored ancient harbour at Myndos, have spoken about one of Caria’s most famous sons, Herodotus, the “father of history”, have described the experience of visiting the region’s shipyards, where the gulets we use are being handcrafted and maintained, and have thrown a covetous eye at the newly inaugurated Carian Trail.

So, are we obsessed with Caria? One might think so. Caria is the venue of no less than ten escorted tours we are running in 2013, and additionally acts as the starting or ending point of another two.

The Temple of Zeus at Euromos in Caria

Caria is in a pivotal position for us. The Carian Coast includes some of the most beautiful, varied and unspoilt maritime scenery in Turkey, gives easy access to the nearby Greek islands of the Dodecanese and beyond and is the true home – both physically and spiritually – of the gulet-building tradition and the gulet cruises known as the “Blue Cruise”. Moreover, Caria has a very rich history and accordingly contains a vast multitude of fascinating and appealing archaeological sites.

The geographic position and complex topography of Caria have contributed much to that history. On the map, Caria sticks out of the Turkish coast: it looks as if whatever god designed it was suffering from the shakes: its coastline is an extraordinarily convoluted one, defined by deep inlets and bays and an innumerable succession of peninsulas sprouting headlands that project further peninsulas. It thus provided much shelter, but also much danger, for passing seafarers, of which there must have been many: since ancient shipping tended to be coastal, nearly every trader travelling between Egypt or the Levantine coast and the Aegean, the Central Mediterranean or the Black Sea must have passed along the Carian Coast. As a result, Caria became an interface between the different peoples and cultures active in the area.

View of the Carian coast near Bozburun

The Carians themselves, a local Anatolian people, remain a little mysterious. We know little of their early history (Homer mentions their wealth and according to Thucydides, they had originally settled many of the Aegean islands) or their language, and find them difficult to grasp archaeologically, with the exception of their distinctive rock-cut tombs. They are visible primarily through their contact with Greek culture, as Greek colonies sprangup near the Carian Coast on islands such as Kos and Rhodes, and now and then also on the mainland, e.g. at Knidos. From an archaeological point of view, it appears that the inhabitants of Caria adopted (and adapted) aspects of Greek cultural expression quite early on and continued to do so even when the region was under Persian domination from the mid-6^th to the late 4^th centuries BC.

At the 480BC battle of Salamis, Queen Artemisia I of Caria fought bravely on the Persian side, but later in the 5^th century, many of the area’s coastal cities were tribute-paying members of the Athenian/Delian League. Between the 370s and 350s BC, the area’s leading figure was Mausollos. From the Persian empire’s point of view, he was a satrap, a local governor of sorts, but internally he presented himself as a sovereign ruler, refounding the city of Halicarnassus as a Carian capital and commemorating himself through the erection of the enormous monumental tomb that was counted as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and gave us the word “mausoleum”.

Gümüskesen at Milas, a Roman copy of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassos

Later again, Caria was conquered by Alexander the Great, fought over by his successors and by the island state of Rhodes, and eventually ended up as part of the Roman and Byzantine empires. In medieval times, it saw a localised incursion by the Crusader Knights of St. John before ending up under the rule of Turkish dynasties (first Mente?e, then Seljuk and eventually Ottoman). In more recent history, key events include the departure of its remaining Greek populations between 1919 and 1922 and the advent of tourism as a major economic factor in the last few decades.

All of these peoples and events have left their traces in the landscapes of Caria, making the Carian Coast of Turkey an archaeological wonderland, densely scattered with a great variety of wonderful sites.

Caria’s ancient cities, each different from the others, offer a unique experience of exploration: The grand vista of the city of Herakleia, scattered amongst huge granite domes like some set of ancient toys, or Euromos, with its unusually well-preserved Roman temple of Zeus, hidden amongst olive groves, are sights to be seen. The ancient port town of Iasos, with Roman houses beautifully set on a coastal promontory, or that of Myndos, still awaiting exploration, cannot fail to impress. Nor can Halicarnassus, now the resort of Bodrum, with its grand castle that the crusaders built from the blocks of the Mausoleum and that now houses the extraordinary museum of underwater archaeology, or Mylasa, now a busy country town with a great farmers’ market and a fully preserved Roman miniature copy of the Mausoleum.

The walls of Loryma, one of the best-preserved Hellenistic fortifications anywhere

Knidos, set at the end of a long and narrow peninsula and surrounded by Greek islands, is one the most enticing sites in Turkey, along with Stratonikeia far inland, where new antiquities are being revealed year by year, whereas Phoenix, overgrown and wild, remains a conundrum. Kaunos, its great theatre looming on a rocky slope above the harbour-turned-swamp, is graced by its extraordinary temple tombs.

Apart from those centres of past settlement, there are the major sanctuaries of ancient Caria: grand Labraunda, sacred to Zeus and set on a hilltop soaring far above the inhabited plains, and numinous Lagina, centre of worship for Hekate, the goodess of witchcraft, crossroads and the moon. A further highlight is the grand Rhodian fortification at Loryma, built to protect a strategic bay, one of the best examples of Hellenistic military architecture to survive and only reachable by boat.

So many reasons to visit Caria, and nearly all of them along the enormously varied, green and peaceful Carian shore! The best way to do so is a cruise, especially our two-week Cruising the Carian Coast!

The post Caria appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

View from Patara’s ancient theatre over the bouleuterion and the central area of the site

Imagine a spacious coastal valley, separated from the Mediterranean sea by tall sand dunes. At its centre lies a swampy lake, surrounded by a small plain which is overlooked by hills on three sides. And all of this scenery is literally filled with ancient ruins: millennia-old roadways, vaults, arches, walls, pillars and entire buildings everywhere, some barely sticking out of the ground, others excavated and restored, and the soil between them littered with vast quantities of broken pottery.

A colonnade flanks the Roman main road through Patara

This is Patara, one of the most impressive and most fascinating among the many archaeological sites in Western Lycia on the southern shore of Turkey, and one of the highlights on our escorted tours and gulet cruises in the area. The sheer extent of the ancient city is enormous, the preservation of its remains unusual even for Turkey, a land abounding in astonishingly well-preserved sites. Nonetheless, Patara is hardly a household name even for adepts of archaeology or of the ancient world, unless they have travelled in the area. Student textbooks on Greek or Roman architecture do not usually mention the site and even advanced literature does not necessarily refer to it.

Why? Probably for two reasons. Firstly, the site, although known to scholars since the 19th century, used to be covered in windblown sand and has only been subject to systematic excavation (by Turkish archaeologists from Antalya University) since 1988 (in scholarly terms, that is recent). Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Patara is a place of moderate, not huge, historical significance: it does make the occasional appearance in ancient literature, but scarcely enough.

The monumental bouleuterion or council house of Patara, one of the best preserved from the ancient world even before its recent restoration

There was probably a religious sanctuary at Patara already in Hittite times, in the 2nd millennium BC. We have no idea what deity would have been worshipped there, but we do know that a thousand years later it was an important oracle associated with the god Apollo, as its first historical mention by the great Greek historian Herodotus in the mid-5th century BC indicates. Supposedly settled by Cretans, Patara appears to have  initially functioned as the harbour for Xanthos, the occasional capital of Lycia, from the 7th or 6th century BC. It is not mentioned in the late 5th century BC Athenian tribute lists, which is hardly surprising, as the Xanthians appear to have defeated an Athenian force trying to exert contributions to the Delian League. Along with the rest of Lycia, it surrendered to Alexander the Great in 334 BC. It is in the ages after Alexander, in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, that Patara reached the height of its importance, primarily as a naval base. First used by the Macedonian kings, it later fell to the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, later to the Antigonids of Syria, probably also temporarily to Rhodes and eventually to Rome. From the 2nd century BC onwards, it was the nominal capital of the Lycian League, an early federation of city states designed to retain a certain degree of local control during the complex struggles of that period.

The city appears to have thrived in Roman times, especially in the first few centuries AD, when it eclipsed Xanthos. St. Paul reports to have changed ships at Patara and the city certainly became an early centre of Christianity in the region. St Nicholas of Myra was born at Patara. The city was probably abandoned in the Middle Byzantine period, never to be reoccupied as an urban settlement again, which is why its remains, never built over, never quarried and eventually covered by sand, are so well preserved.

The 2nd century AD horreum, probably a warehouse for the Roman navy

So, our reader may ask what there is to see at Patara. Our writer has to ask where to start. There is a whole ancient city there, scattered over an area well beyond a square kilometre and inviting thorough exploration. Most of the archaeological remains now visible are from the late Hellenistic and Roman periods. The obvious highlights include a particularly grandiose theatre, the recently restored bouleuterion or council house, which appears to have been the seat of the assembly for the Lycian League, several Roman baths, the ancient colonnaded main street, a Roman monumental city gate, walls from various periods, the 2nd century AD horreum (a storehouse for grains and other goods used by the Roman army), a Byzantine (?) fortification incorporating a Roman or earlier temple, and last but not least, the foundations of one of the very few lighthouses surviving from antiquity (currently undergoing restoration). Further afield, there are graves and cemeteries ranging from prehistoric to Late Roman times. Even more importantly, the Roman aqueduct that supplied Patara with fresh water from mountainside sources stretches for nearly 20km, including a section where it runs downhill first and then  uphill, using the inverted syphon principle unique to the most sophisticated Roman water supply systems.

Intrigued? You can visit Patara easily from Kalkan, a major resort town on the coast of Lycia. Of course, the best way to explore such a large and complex archaeological site is to come prepared, having read up in advance. Even better, we can show you around there on no less than six escorted tours this year: our 2-week gulet cruise of the Lycian shore, our family cruise in Western Lycia (guiding children around a site so clearly preserved is an absolutely wonderful experience), our two gulet cruises (this and this) of Cruising Western Lycia, as well as our escorted 2-week walking cruise of the Lycian Shore and our 1-week walking cruise of Western Lycia.

The post Patara appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

The beach at Kato Zakros – paradise!

Nearly a month ago, we concluded our first ever Exploring Crete – Archaeology, Nature and Food tour.

In the course of 12 days, we travelled the length and breadth of that beautiful Greek island, offering our guests a comprehensive panorama of its extraordinary wealth in archaeological and historical sites, beautiful and diverse landscapes and rich culinary tradition. Long days were spent most enjoyably, exploring fascinating ruins, ancient structures, old town centres or traditional villages, walking throuh some of the island’s many famous limestone gorges or on the flower-strewn flanks of hills and mountains, and of course enjoying Crete’s produce in in a seemingly endless string of tavernas and restaurants, as well as three wineries.

And did it go well? We think so. One of our guests wrote to tell us that it was “the best [tour] either of us have done with any company“.

So, to celebrate this year’s “Exploring Crete”, but also to arouse your interest in next year’s trip (April 29-May 10, 2014), here’s a little gallery of impressions taken during our travels on Crete. Below, you will find a recipe for one of the most celebrated traditional Cretan dishes, gamopilafo.

Gamopilafo – Goat meat and turkey/rooster with rice

(Recipe by Nota Karamaouna)

Gamopilafo, which means “rice of the wedding”, describes a traditional Cretan dish traditionally offered in many regions of that great island as the primary dish of the wedding feas, consisting of meat and poultry accompanied by rice cooked in the meat broth.

The origins of Gamopilafo are unclear. According to a Greek version, it could be a survival from the time when the “Serenissima”, the Republic of Venice, controlled much of the Aegean, including Crete from the 13^th century onwards. However, the island’s risotto-like dishes appear to be related to both occidental (risotto) and anatolian (pilav) cuisine. Thus, Gamopilafo might well be an amalgamation of Venetian and Eastern traditions, incorporating influences from the era of Turkish rule (17^th to 19^th centuries). In any case, the end result is neither occidental nor oriental, but distinctively Cretan. Thus, gamopilafo is a perfect culinary representation of the long and complex history, but also the strong local character of the island.

Nowadays, the Cretans, using local products – goats and lambs are abundant in the mountains of the island – have adopted their own way of preparation with many different local variations. It is a key feature at traditional weddings – as it emphasizes the hosting family’s fertility and wealth by using rice, meat and poultry at the same time. Gamopilafo also makes an appearance at village feasts and many family celebrations.

The meat used in Gamopilafo is traditionally goat and rooster, but lamb and turkey or chicken can also be used as substitutes. The preparation we suggest takes about 3 hours in terms of cooking time. It is a simple and minimal recipe, avoiding the use of too many or overly complicated ingredients. Its flavor and taste relies especially on the high quality of the meat (fresh and local) and on the aroma of the butter used (traditionally home-made goat-milk butter).

Ingredients (serves: 8)

1 kilo goat meat or lamb

1 turkey or chicken (1 ½ kilo)

2 big cups of rice (as used for risotto – preferably the Arborio type)

2 tbsp of goat butter (if unavailable, use the best butter you can find)

½ cup of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Wash the meats well and boil them together for about 2 hours on low heat in a large pot or casserole dish with sufficient water to cover the meat throughout. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and pepper as well as some oil at the beginning*.

Once cooked, remove the meat, add some more salt and pepper, and put it on a serving dish.

Strain the broth.

Plan ahead to have about three times as much liquid as rice.

Reduce the heat to medium; put the drained broth (6 cups) in the pot again. Pour in the rice (2 cups) and stir, to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Stir constantly for about 15-20 minutes until the mixture has become even. Add ½ cup of lemon juice not long before the rice is cooked.

Next, brown the butter in a small pan. Remove the pot of rice from the heat and pour the hot butter over it. Cover the pot with a towel and let it rest for 5-8 minutes.

Put the rice in the serving dish along with the meat.

Your gamopilafo is ready. Enjoy!

*According to another version, popular in some Aegean islands, you can add chopped green and red peppers and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste diluted with some water.

The post Exploring Crete: Images and a Recipe appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

View of Fira, the main town on Santorini

This post was written two days ago. Since the remoter parts of the Aegean do not always provide internet access, it can only be posted today, while our cruise has continued onwards to Nisyros.

The brilliant morning sunlight allows some scattered clouds to cast their shadows on a deeply blue Aegean sea. A light breeze promises to balance out the rising heat. On the horizon, the outlines of distant islands are floating in and out of sight. Closer, and thus very visible, are the three islands we are travelling between: Santorini, whence we departed early this morning, Anafi, which we merely observe while passing by, and Astypalaia, where we shall arrive later today.

It is the second week of our two-week “Cruising to the Cyclades” trip, an epic voyage through the Dodecanese and Cycladic islands of Greece that we introduced in 2012. Throughout the last ten days, we (myself and Nota, my fellow tour leader) have had the privilege to show a group of interested and increasingly enthused guests around seven different islands, three more are to follow.

Today’s two islands could not be more different from one another.

Not well known, but fantastically beautiful: the Chora of Astypalaia

Santorini is a well-known spectacular, world-famous and well-frequented, the image of its whitewashed houses clustered along the rim of the enormous volcanic caldera gracing book-covers, websites and advertisement posters around the globe. Along with the Parthenon, it has become a global icon of Greece. In summer, it is buzzing with activity, since over recent decades it has become a major destination for droves of cruise-liners, as well as tens of thousands of individual visitors every day.

Astypalaia is a place apart. Hardly anyone outside Greece knows its name and there is nothing global about that small island and its modest but profound beauty. With no daily ferryboat and only occasional flights, the island is a haven of serenity and peace, a refuge far away from the hustle and bustle of modern mass tourism, to be explored and savoured at leisure.

Of course, being Greek islands, both contain important and fascinating archaeological and historical remains, ranging from mysterious and distant prehistory to the rich heritage of more recent eras.

Our group,, standing in the 3600-year old plateia or village square of Akrotiri on Santorini

Santorini’s key site is of course Akrotiri, the Bronze Age city destroyed and thus preserved by the mega-eruption of the Santorini volcano in the late 17^th century BC. Walking among its lanes and squares between 3600-year old houses preserved to the third floor is an amazing experience. What makes Akrotiri a world class site is its conjunction with two excellent museums presenting the rich array of stupendously beautiful artefacts from the site and its broad range of evocative wall paintings.

Astypalaia’s major attraction is the Chora, the island capital, a typical Greek island village of cubic houses clustered in an unbelievably picturesque peninsular hilltop setting and crowned by a 15^th century Venetian castle. On the top, one is surrounded by some of the finest views in the entire Mediterranean, taking in the vast blueness of the sea and a whole panorama of islands on the horizon. Smaller archaeological sites are scattered around the country.

Both islands also feature off-boat meals for our little group. In Santorini, we savoured the island’s best known products, fava (a puree of yellow split peas), capers, cherry tomatoes and the famous Santorini wines, at a range of truly gourmet restaurants. On Astypalaia, we will have a meal of kakavia (a traditional Greek fish soup) and fresh fish in an authentic harbourside tavern.

…and still our group, exploring the lanes of Astypalaia Town

In many ways, the contrast between these two islands, Santorini in the Cyclades and Astypalaia in the Dodecanese, embodies much of the personality of the Greek islands, and thus of our cruise among them. Although they all share elements in spirit and tradition, to some extent also in architecture and landscape, each island has its own distinctive character, its own unique atmosphere and its own story to tell.

Of course, that applies not only to Santorini and Astypalaia, today’s islands, but also to all the others we have visited and are still going to visit throughout this tour. Each of them, Kos with its light-hearted harbour town, peaceful Pserimos, lofty Kalymnos and Leros with its unusual history, splendid Amorgos and friendly Naxos, and finally Nisyros with its volcanic history, has its own character and story, its own fascination for us to share with our guests.

Alternating between well-frequented islands with famous names like Santorini or Kos, and off-the beaten track ones such as Pserimos or Astypalaia, travel in the Aegean islands offers a never-ending panorama of different perspectives – both visually and culturally – to explore, and moreover to enjoy.

So, you should really come and see the islands. One way to do so is our “Cruising to the Cyclades” tour – dates just announced for spring 2014! – or this autumn on our wonderful Cruising the Northern Dodecanese tour.

The post A Note from the Greek Islands appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

An unforgettable sight: the Melanes Kouros, still lying in the quarry that has been his home for 2700 years

An earlier version of this text first appeared in the now-defunct Athens News in August 2010.

Amidst rocks and trees, two beautiful boys are lying on their backs, not far from each other, stark naked, their open eyes looking towards the sky above them. Their smiles seem unconcerned by the fact that they have been lying like this for a very long time – for nearly 2700 years. The unfinished Archaic (mid 6th century BC) kouroi of Flerio on the Cycladic island of Naxos have been known for generations as one of the most striking attractions on an island rich in historic sites. Only recently, these marvels have been integrated into a network of trails linking them with other key archaeological sites in the vicinity, allowing the visitor to explore a slice of ancient Greek life scattered throughout an unusually beautiful Aegean landscape.

Today, Flerio, in the area of Melanes, a series of upland valleys 10 km to the East of Naxos Town, is serene, silent and quite remote, its olive groves and fruit orchards overlooked by the industrious quarries that still extract the famous Naxian marble from the hillsides around. It was not that much different in antiquity, when the area was also rural in character, but from early on it received attention for the two key resources it provided to the city-state of Naxos: marble and water.

The rural sanctuary of Flerio, with the “sacred rock” visible on the right

Flerio is not one single site that once served a single function, but rather an ensemble of several sites, all within one micro-region. The recent transformation of the area through the construction of a network of pathways and the erection of several explanatory panels, as well as the opening up of several hitherto inaccessible sites, makes it a must-see, a unique opportunity to explore an ancient landscape, offering insights in both its economic and symbolic significance. There is probably more archaeology awaiting discovery in the Flerio area, so we should not pretend to fully understand all its aspects. But of course, we can hardly claim that anywhere…

One of the centrepieces of the Flerio complex,  set on the slope of a low hill, are the remains of an unusual sanctuary. Its origins go back to the 8th century BC, and it remained in use throughout antiquity. Now excellently landscaped (preserving its venerable old olive trees), this was never an imposing cult centre like the Acropolis, Delphi or Olympia. Instead, it is one of the best examples of a relatively small sanctuary used by a specific group, as it probably served as a local place of worship for the quarry workers – there are chisel marks on the rocks all around – and was thus devoted to the chthonic “underground” deities, symbolising nature’s generosity in supplying humans with its wealth of water, rock and fertile soil.

The Portara of Naxos was meant to be the portal for a never-completed temple of Apollo

Surrounded by an oval enclosure wall, there are numerous structures. Near the top of the site, a large marble outcrop appears to have been a sacred rock: the earliest temple, a small and simple rectangular room, was built against it, with a sacrificial pyre placed beyond it. In the 6th century, the rock appears to have slipped and partially destroyed that structure, which was then rebuilt in slightly smaller dimensions, and replaced with a new larger temple, built over the pyre. The foundations of the new temple are well preserved; of special interest is its massive marble threshold block, with cuttings for uprights on either side, indicating the earliest full marble portal we know in Greek architecture, a direct ancestor to the most famous monument in Naxos town, the Portara.

Down the slope, a terrace held an area reserved for buried offerings, many of which were discovered here by the Greek Archaeological Service’s excavators. Not far off are the remains of a second temple, added to the site in 6th century BC and apparently built entirely of marble, again the first known instance of that practice. Come to think of it, it makes perfect sense that the earliest beginnings of a tradition that would later culminate in the great marble temples we all associate with Classical Greece should be found exactly where one of Greece’s most famous marble sources was, and still is, being exploited. Furthermore, the site also produced one of the oldest Ionic capitals we know of.

The chthonic sanctuary of Flerio, its ancient name completely forgotten as none of the writers of antiquity ever mentioned it, may be a modest place at first sight – but its tangible role in the development of ancient Greek architecture makes it a truly awesome site.

The Flerio Kouros

Below the shrine, a path leads uphill through a leafy glade, a bucolic area of dense vegetation fed by the copious springs in the vicinity, towards the renowned Kouros of Flerio, a typical Archaic statue of a nude young man, of very large dimensions (over 5.7m tall), lying on his back in a small tree-shaded enclosure. He was carved in this very location around 570 BC, and was meant to be moved to Naxos town or further afield for the finishing touches and final detail. At the time, Naxos was a leading producer of marble and of monumental sculpture, its products prominent in all major centres of Archaic Greek civilisation, as exemplified by the Naxian Sphinx at Delphi.

In all likelihood, the kouros‘ lower legs broke already during the later stages of production – due to a natural weakness in the rock? – forcing the stonecutters to abandon him where he was being carved. Thus, we have to thank an accident or failure of workmanship for an unforgettable sight. To see this work of ancient Greek genius, made possible by the fine crystalline marble of the Naxian hills, still in the very location of its creation, where it has lain day-in, day-out, through wind and weather, throughout the entire history of Naxos, with all its wars, invasions, occupations and changes in belief or lifestyle, is perhaps one of the most tangible and touching experiences of antiquity available in all of Greece.

The huge “Naxian Sphinx” at Delphi (ca. 570 BC)

A quarter hour along the same path, past remnants of ancient (and modern) quarrying, there is a a second kouros (now usually know as the Kouros of Melanes), lying exposed on an open hillside. Of similar age, style and dimensions to his brother further downhill, he probably shares a similar story of accident or failure. He was abandoned a little further along the line towards finishing, as indicated by the still-visible details, such as the beautifully sculpted braided hair hanging over both shoulders. His feet, reconstructed from fragments found in the area, now stand nearby, but will never support him. Remains of ancient quarrying activity are preserved all around.

From below the chthonic sanctuary, another path runs downhill, passing a small exhibition centre devoted to the archaeology of the area, to another set of sites of great importance: the ancient aqueduct. When the polis, or city state, of Naxos grew larger and wealthier in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, the area’s wealth of water became a highly significant resource. The earliest aqueduct, a line of clay pipes, each locking into the next one, was built as early as the 6th century BC, making it one of the oldest known examples of such a municipal work in Greece.

The physics of getting water from a higher elevation to a lower one are simple enough, but here there was an extra problem: a lowish saddle cuts off the northern end of the Flerio valley from the route to the coast and Naxos town. The challenge was met by the construction of tunnel, more than 200m long and comparable only to its more famous and much larger counterpart of similar age, the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos (the great 6th century island rulers or “tyrants” of Samos and Naxos, Polykrates and Lygdamis, are said to have been friends, so the similarity may not be a complete coincidence). The tunnel was in use for many centuries and received a major renovation in Roman times. Its entrance and exit can be visited on either side of the main road running atop the saddle. The Roman water conduit, solidly built of stone, is clearly visible, as are the open shafts at either end of the tunnel,where deep settling basins to allow mud and sediment to to drop, thus preventing the system from clogging up.

One of the Roman maintenance shafts giving access to the aqueduct tunnel

More stretches of the aqueduct, including preserved sections of the original interlocking Archaic pipes, are visible in various locations along the main road towards Naxos town.

There is a lot more to see on the island: the great Chora or island capital with its Venetian castle and mansions, innumerable painted Byzantine churches, lots of villages with traditional Cycladic or Neoclassical houses, two Classical sanctuaries, several prehistoric settlements and cemeteries, the intriguing remains of the early 20th century emery mines, and a whole series of distinctive island landscapes.

Naxos is most certainly worth a visit, with the Flerio sites as one of multiple highlights. We’ll be showing guests around there in a few days, on the upcoming Cruising to the Cyclades tour. If you are curious, why not join us on that cruise next year?

The post Still smiling – The Sleeping Giants of Flerio appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

We’ve recently provided some content to the travel website (and mobile app) Tripwolf. You can see the original text at this link, but here’s an expanded version.

The view from the castle citadel of Kale (ancient Simena) in Lycia encapsulates the remarkable beauty of the Turkish coast.

The western and southern coasts of Turkey have become incredibly popular tourist destinations  in recent years, attracting literally millions of travellers. This is hardly surprising: the area enjoys a perfect Mediterranean climate and is easier to get to year by year, the tourist infrastructure and scope of leisure activities have been growing steadily, and the vast amount of places to stay ranges from self-catering apartments to five-star-hotels, all available at decent prices. In short, the Turkish shores offer everything needed for a perfect period of pool- or beach-side relaxation, but also for a more active holiday.

The vast majority of visitors enjoy just that type of vacation. But easy and relaxing as that may be, most of them are unaware of some of the best and most enjoyable aspects of the region. Coastal Turkey has a lot more to offer, to make the visit truly special and unforgettable. Here are our five suggestions of things you should do to perfect your experience and enjoyment of the Turkish coast – for all five senses.

Hikers on the Lycian Way, above Ölüdeniz.

1. Get a feel for the place – go on a walk.

The vast majority of visitors spend nearly their entire time on the beaches and in the tourist resorts along the coastline itself. As the name implies, that really is a line, a narrow strip that is no more than the outermost edge of Turkey, a huge landmass containing an astonishing wealth of beautiful or fascinating sights to see. So, do have a look at what’s hidden in plain sight: the hinterland. No matter where you are spending your holiday, you will find a whole world of unspoilt natural countrysides and authentic traditional villages, not far from the coast. Large forests, soaring mountains, river valleys and inland plains are awaiting you. Furthermore, in recent years Turkey has seen the gradual opening up of an impressive set of long-distance walking paths, including the famous Lycian Way in the South and the brand new Carian Trail in the Southwest. With a bit of research, a little time, and maybe some local advice, you can find your own trail, easy or challenging, long or short, to let you feel the landscape in all its beauty and get a hand-on experience of the terrain.

 2. Taste Turkey – eat with the locals.

Fresh squid and an aubergine dish being freshly prepared…

Turkish food is rightly famous: due to its enormous extent and also to the long multi-cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, the country has access to an unusually diverse culinary tradition. Many hotels offer a glimpse of those delights, and some organised tours feature meals at a selection of quality restaurants. But most of the places aimed at the tourist market provide a somewhat streamlined, westernised version of the real thing. On your own holiday, you can greatly enrich your experience by keeping your eyes open to see where and what the locals eat. Everywhere in Turkey, be it in town centres or tourist resorts or just along the main roads, you will find an enormous range of places serving truly traditional and local food. In most cases, they specialise in a particular style, or even a single dish. Thus, a corba salonu serves wholesome soups (mostly based on lentils, beans or chicken), a kebapçı offers the famous Turkish kebab (including some very spicy ones), a pideci specialises in pide, a savoury pie with meat and or cheese, not quite unlike pizza, whereas a lokanta isa more generic local tavern, preparing salads and remarkably tasty slow-cooked or oven-roasted dishes at often surprisingly low prices. In many cases, the staff will not speak much English, but they will always do their utmost to help out by showing you what the kitchen has to offer. Incidentally, my absolute favourite is the kokoreç büfe, where you can savour one of the most popular Turkish dishes, kokoreç (lamb’s innards grilled on the spit, strongly spiced, finely  chopped and served as a sandwich). But it doesn’t have to be as exotic as that: look out for what the locals choose, feel free to ask their advice, and be ready to be immersed in the discovery of a very real and very lively tradition.

Traditional musicians in Kalkan (Wikimedia).

3. Listen – find out about the many musical venues and festivals.

In the more touristy places along the Turkish coast, hotels or restaurants often hire folk musicians and sometimes dancers as part of their entertainment programmes. Those performances can be great fun, but they tend to lack in authenticity. Depending on where you are staying, there may be much more interesting discoveries to be made. If you are staying near a larger town, or in an area that also attracts domestic Turkish visitors, chances are that more real folk music is being played somewhere – ask someone. If you are lucky, you can gain deep insights into the vibrant heartbeat of a living musical tradition, with its own distinctive rhythms and instruments. Beyond that, there is a surprising number of music festivals throughout the summer, ranging from Turkish and international folk via classical music and opera to jazz. Keep your ears peeled and enjoy!

4. Inhale the scent of the country – at a local market.

Fresh fruit on display in a farmers’ market.

Turkey is to a very large an agricultural country, producing a vast array of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, pulses and so on. On a driving holiday, you will often find out with no effort at all what an area produces: more often than not, wooden booths along the main road sell the major crops, such as pomegranates in Lycia, figs in Ionia or oranges nearly everywhere. Stop and try some. But don’t leave it at that. There are weekly farmers’ markets everywhere, usually in a district’s main town(s) – and not to be confused with the more permanent tourist bazaars. Once a week, local producers assemble in some square, setting out their wares for the local inhabitants, but also the restaurants, hotels and caterers serving the tourist industry. The markets are perhaps the most easily accessible facet of truly authentic Turkish life: your visit will bring you a fascinating multi-sensory panorama of the area and its inhabitants, busy, colourful, loud and often chaotic, and full of the aromas of the land’s produce. Look out especially for fresh seasonal fruit, often including unusual local varieties. (Make sure to wash fruit before eating).

Part of the city wall of ancient Herakleia under Latmos, a vast and largely unexplored ancient city in an extraordinary setting.

5. Look at history – make your own discoveries!

Turkey has literally thousands of archaeological sites, reflecting a long history and the many peoples that have passed through the region since early prehistory. At every resort, you can find tour agents that offer excursions to the most famous archaeological sites in the area, which are bound to be fascinating. Many hotels also organise such excursions for their guests. But again, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The Turkish countryside contains hundreds of sites that have not yet been excavated or that have not been provided with the pathways and explanatory panels featured on the tourist sites. Often, impressive ancient remains are just sitting there in the landscape, maybe hidden away in a mountain valley or along a rocky coast, or sticking out of the ground between the dwellings of a traditional village.  Such places can be found nearly anywhere along the coast, but you may want to do a little research beforehand to find out what there is: the remains of an atmospheric sanctuary to the ancient Gods, of a sturdy fortification, or even of an entire city may await you not all that far from where you are staying or passing by. Far off the beaten track, they invite you to explore, to make your own discoveries, to get your own sense of history and time by going out and looking for yourself. An easy way to get access to these places is to book one of our archaeological tours or cruises in Turkey, all of which include such sites alongside the better-known highlights.

So, if you’re spending time on the Turkish coast this year, make that extra effort and find those unique experiences and unforgettable memories the country has to offer.

The post The Turkish Coast for all Five Senses appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

The famous Lion of Amphipolis – keeper of a grim mystery?

Sensational news from Northern Greece!

Last week, the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting on Archaeological Works in Macedonia and Thrace took place at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. This is an important event, as it offers some preliminary access to very recent excavations and research, often years before formal publications become available.

As always, many very interesting results were presented, including reports from last year’s excavation seasons at key sites such as Pella, the ancient capital of Macedon, or at Vergina/Aigai, the royal burial ground of Macedonian royalty.

But one of the most astonishing presentations came from Amphipolis, at the eastern edge of Central Macedonia. Founded as an Athenian colony in 437 BC, the city was conquered by Philip II of Macedon in 357 BC and became an important economic centre within the region. Under Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, it also gained great military significance, especially as a naval hub. It was from here that his armies and fleets set out for the campaign against the Persian Empire in 335 BC.

Amphipolis Museum holds many interesting finds, including this Hellenistic gold funerary crown, imitating a wreath of oak leaves.,

Today, the site features numerous excavated areas, scattered over a very large area in a beautiful, fertile and rolling countryside. Ranging from Classical to Byzantine in date, they include city walls, sanctuaries, tombs, a gymnasium, several Early Christian churches and more, plus an excellent archaeological museum.

But the most striking sight to behold at Amphipolis is the Lion Monument, an enormous stone effigy of a lion, about 4m (13ft) in height. Discovered in fragments in the early 20th century and later reconstructed, it is usually dated to the late 4th century BC. Conventionally, but not based on particularly strong evidence, it has been interpreted as marking the burial place of one of Alexander’s admirals, Nearchos, Androsthenes or Laomedon, all of whom were associated with the city.

Enter Katerina Peristeri. At the meeting, the Greek archaeologist has presented a discovery from  2012 that throws a wholly new light on the lion and allows for a fascinating possibility as to whom it really commemorated, namely that it stood on the tomb of Roxane, wife of Alexander the Great!

Outsized by the Kasta Tomb? The facade of the grave of Philip II at Vergina.

Peristeri has been excavating a nearby site known as the Kasta Tumulus, a seemingly heavily eroded circular earthen mound, comparable to royal burial mounds elsewhere in Macedon. Her investigation has revealed the well-preserved foundation of a monumental perimeter wall of limestone, clad with finely cut slabs of marble brought from the island of Thasos. About 3m (10ft) high, it surrounds a mound with a perimeter of c. 500m (1640ft), or a diameter of 160m/525ft, and an estimated height of over 25m (80ft), dimensions considerably larger than those of the famous Great Tumulus at Vergina, which contains the remains of Philip II and other members of the royal family. A monument of such size should contain one or several burial chambers, but archaeologists have not yet been able to explore the interior of the mound.

Portions of the perimeter wall appear to have been removed in Roman times. The search for those missing pieces led to a truly astonishing realisation: following careful measurements, Peristeri’s site architect, Michalis Lefantzis, has identified the blocks of the Lion’s current reconstructed base and a large number of further fragments in the same area as belonging to the tumulus. Apparently, they had been taken from the mound and used in securing the bank of the river Strymon. This strongly suggests that the animal originally crowned the top of the tumulus – the original monument must have been spectacular to behold!

Assorted architectural fragments surround the present location of the Lion

So, who could be buried in such a distinguished tomb? Based on its apparent late 4th century date and unusual dimensions, Peristeri puts forward her own theory, speculative but fascinating. The historian Diodorus Siculus (19.52.4) reports that Alexander’s widow, the Bactrian princess Roxane, and his posthumous son Alexander IV Aigos, were placed under house arrest at Amphipolis by Alexander’s distant relative and successor as Macedonian ruler, Cassander. Also according to Diodorus (19.105.2, see link above), Cassander, recognising the existence of Alexander’s legitimate heir, now 14 years old, as a threat to his own power, had both of them murdered there in 309 BC. Peristeri thus proposes that the Kasta Tumulus is the tomb of Roxane and Alexander IV. She also draws a connection between it and Deinokrates, Alexander’s favourite architect, although it is not clear on what grounds.

For the moment, this remains speculation. There can be little doubt that the mound belonged to an important personality’s grave, but Roxane and Alexander IV are by no means the only major characters in ancient Macedonian history whose final resting place remains unknown (it has also been surmised that they were buried at Vergina). Moreover, Diodorus points out that the murder of the two was kept secret, which would raise the question why and by whom such an enormous tumulus was erected over the tomb of Roxane.

No doubt, further excavations will reveal more about the newly recognised monument. Meanwhile, you can visit Amphipolis and its Lion on our tour In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: Birth of a Legend.

The post The Tomb of Roxane? appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

The harbour of Myndos, modern Gümüşlük (“silvery” or “hanging silver”).

Cathie Draycott, one of our tour experts, brings us a description and her reflections on Myndos, a site we visit on some of our cruises in Caria and Ionia.

Myndos is the first stop on the Cruising to Ephesus trip, which travels along the coast from Bodrum (ancient Halicarnassus, the capital of the famous Carian king Maussollos) north to Ephesus. (It is also the starting point of Cruising the Carian Coast, Cruising the Ceramic Gulf and of our new Cruising the South-East Aegean tour, combining Turkish shore and Greek islands) After the busy port at Bodrum, or a site-packed journey coming from the other way, the pretty, sleepy little harbor of Myndos, modern Gümüşlük (‘silvery’) is a site for sore eyes.

The path skirting through what was once the centre of ancient Myndos. The field on the left contained public buildings, still awaiting exploration…

This charming harbour itself with its row of cafés and restaurants lining the waterside is one reason to visit the place. The other reason to visit Myndos, and the reason it is on the itinerary is of course the archaeology. Some may wonder, however, why, as part of a site tour, they find themselves walking up what seems like a rather ordinary country path, with no sign of anything to see, so to speak. The site is an intriguing example for the vast majority of the ‘archaeological sites’ in the world, which remain largely hidden from view, still scattered on the ground, or under it. Unlike Ephesus and other settlements that have been turned into archaeological parks, with plenty of still standing or reconstructed remains, Myndos has until recently remained relatively untouched, and there is very little which is still evident of the site. In fact, Michael Metcalfe says that when he first visited the site in the 1990s, there were more remains than there are now. Once a modestly prosperous seaside town, which flourished from at least the 4^th century BC and possibly earlier through to the early Byzantine period (c. 7^th century AD), the cut stones from its various structures have been continuously reused, first within the Roman and Byzantine phases of the town, and then by more recent villagers, who have incorporated them in the structures of the village that skirts the site today.

Standing remains of an early church at Myndos, the walls composed of a mix of Roman rubble concrete and marble remains from earlier buildings. Near the bottom of the walls one can spot blocks with half columns inserted sideways.

Along the seemingly inconsequential path, one can see parts of columns half buried in the soil and used in the construction of the low stone walls that line it. One of the few standing remains lies along this path, a quick hop over the wall: a late Roman/early Byzantine church, which shows perfectly the incorporation of generations of spolia (the stonework from older buildings) in its fabric. An archaeological team from Uludağ (“Great Mountain”) University – a university in Bursa, further north – has started exploration of the site and has conducted a ‘sounding’ (small excavation) in the building, which uncovered some ceramics suggesting a 5^th century AD date (though I’ve also heard 6^th century from other archaeologists). A more ancient altar was also found, leading the excavators to believe that the church was constructed on top of an earlier temple. No Ephesus, but this church provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore in romantic seclusion an ancient structure in a relatively ‘raw’ archaeological state.

The Uludağ University team has also partly excavated a Roman bathhouse further up the path, and geophysical survey of the site has revealed a theatre in the hillside, which may be uncovered in years to come. They have most recently been excavating the little island – Tavsan Adası – visible in the photo looking down to the harbor, above. There, the rabbits (the name means “Rabbit Island”) have been rather displaced by archaeological exploration, and remains of the later Roman, Byzantine and Selçuk periods have been found. A report in the English language daily newspaper, Hürriyet Daily News, provides some insight into the finds and the plans of the team to develop the cultural tourism potential of Myndos.

An altar still stands on the foundations of what would have been one of the city’s main temples.

Other structures of interest on the site, which also await excavation, include the base of a temple in the middle of the field to the left of the path, inhabited by the occasional cow. When the vegetation is manageable, a visit is worthwhile. Hewn from the natural rock, it shows traces here and there of the architecture that once stood atop it. The ‘cow field’ would once have been downtown Myndos, housing, apart from this temple, other public buildings and amenities. Among these, the temple itself would probably have been visible from the sea – important for a seaside town which would have attracted a range of seafaring visitors. The town is said to have been built by the king Maussollos in the 4^th century BC, during a great period of urbanization in the area, and one suspects that like Halicarnassus, Myndos too was designed to enhance access to, and possibly control of, the sea hereabouts, not least as the site controls the straits between the Anatolian mainland and the adjacent islands of Kos and Kalymnos.

A small part of the Lelegian Wall at Myndos. Until later in the summer, it is largely obscured by the shrubbery which covers the hill.

On the very top of the hill overlooking both the area of the field on the one side and the harbour on the other, there is a curious structure which continues to perplex all of us: the so-called Lelegian Wall. The remains of this massive wall run right down the middle of the hill, in a place which seems ill-suited to defense of the site. and its masonry style – giant irregular ‘polygonal’ blocks – best recalls Bronze Age structures. The term ‘Lelegian’ links it with a legendary people who lived in this region before it was, according to Greek authors such as Herodotus, settled by Dorians from Greek Troezen sometime in the early first millennium BC. A sharp eye will spot the term, or a modern Turkish derivative of it, used in advertising for local businesses. It was the Lelegian towns that Maussollos is said to have consolidated in the founding of ‘new Myndos’ (as opposed to ‘old Myndos’ founded by the Dorians, thought to lie on a nearby mountaintop). The early history of these settlements is very difficult to unpick from the tales embedded in later traditions, which often arose or were ‘hardened’ in periods of political turmoil, much as histories are used now to effect political claims through cultural patrimony.

After the exertions of exploring ancient Myndos, modern Gümüşlük provides well-deserved refreshment in lovely surroundings.

At any rate, the so-called Lelegian Wall at Myndos is quite distinct from the circular buildings found at other ‘Lelegian’ sites on hills through the peninsula, and although it resembles the huge polygonal masonry walls from some Greek Bronze Age sites, it may not even be that old. The other walls of the site, which are scant now, are more happily dated as least in their first phases to the 4^th century BC – possibly to Maussollos’ foundation – and do not seem to have any connection to it. Excavation might help here, but so far this particular mystery of Myndos has resisted attempts to solve it.

A leisurely visit to the spoliated church, the cow field temple and up to the peak, where apart from the wall, one can get a fine view of the harbour below, takes about two hours. Starting late in the day to avoid the scorching heat means that one returns to ‘civilisation’ (aka the harbour) in the early evening. Of the many cafés lining the waterside, one near the tiny beach has adorned its pergola with a multitude of hanging pierced gourd lamps, which in the early evening light forms another kind of welcome site. For those who need more substantial sustenance, there are also some excellent fish tavernas…

In 2013, there is ample opportunity to visit Myndos with Peter Sommer Travels. Cruising to Ephesus runs three times (1, 2 and 3), but Myndos also serves as the starting point for the Carian Coast, Ceramic Gulf and South-East Aegean itineraries mentioned above.

The post Reflections on Myndos appeared first on Peter Sommer Travels Blog.

Unforgettable: Amalfi seen from a gulet

Michael Metcalfe, a core member of the Peter Sommer Travels team, has recently written a guest post for the colleagues at two travel blog sites, Travelspinner and TravelDailyNews. It encapsulates his experience of preparing and guiding our Cruise along the Amalfi Coast around the Bay of Naples, Italy, and underlines why he loves the area.

Here it is.

Name

Michael Metcalfe

Job Title & Company

Senior Tour Consultant & Head of Italian Operations, Peter Sommer Travels. I create, lead and supervise all of our gulet trips, land tours and private holidays in Italy.

Michael Metcalfe

Brief CV

I joined Peter Sommer Travels in 2009 to develop our tours in Italy and Greece, and to take over the running of our private gulet charter business. Before that I taught Ancient History and Archaeology for 4 years in two Universities in Sicily, and worked on various archaeological projects in the eastern Mediterranean.

Just Back From…

The Bay of Naples and the Amalfi Coast

Best view

From the Ancient Roman Villa of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (the Villa Jovis) on the eastern tip of Capri. On a clear day you get a stunning panoramic view of the entire Bay of Naples and the brooding menace that is Mount Vesuvius.

Not the Filetto di Manzo Gratinato but another famous speciality of the Campania region: Pasta Puttanesca (image: Wikimedia Commons)

Dish to die for

‘Filetto di manzo gratinato in crosta di pane alle erbe con carciofi e patate novella’ at the Trattoria da Gemma in Amalfi. A simply divine main course of succulent beef fillet wrapped in a thin potato and herb crust and roasted to perfection. Accompany it with a glass of full-bodied red wine grown on the slopes of Vesuvius, look out over the lively main piazza of the town laid out below the roof-terrace dining area, and you’ll feel as though you are in heaven.

Top Tipple

Limoncello. The various towns and villages dotted around the Bay of Naples and along the AmalfiCoast all produce their own variants of this liqueur, which come in many different hues and strengths. All are worth a sip, especially after a hearty meal!

Best Activity

Cultural heritage second to none: the amphitheatre at Pompeii nearly fully preserved by the volcanic destruction that destroyed that vibrant Roman city in AD 79

Exploring the vast cultural heritage of the area. From the beautiful islands of Capri and

Ischia to the towns and cities of Baia, Pozzuoli, Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi and Positano, the area is filled with some of the most spectacular and evocative archaeological sites in the world, nearly all of which are handily situated next to some fantastic restaurants and bars. There are very few other places where you can so easily indulge an interest in first class culture, food and fine wine.

Any regrets?

I didn’t have time this trip to climb to the summit of Mount Vesuvius. Visibility is often perfect in the first couple of months of the year, and the views from the summit are simply breathtaking.

Advice to Travellers

The road and motorway network in the area is woefully maintained, and the drivers are …. innovative … in their application of the finer points of the highway code. Travel by public transport where possible or, better yet, tour the area aboard one of Peter Sommer Travels’ elegant, comfortable and traditional wooden gulets.

The “Temple of Mercury” at Baiae. Like the so-called “Temple of Venus”, it is actually a Roman bathhouse (image from Wikimedia Commons)

Memorable Moment

Meeting the owner of a small restaurant in Baia, who turned out not only to be almost single-handedly responsible for saving and protecting the vast underwater archaeological park in the bay there, and turning it into a self-financing visitor attraction, but who also had the keys to the nearby ancient Temple of Venus. Being able to walk alone into that soaring, open-air structure in the dead of night, lit only by the light of the moon in a cloudless sky, was a magical experience.

Read more about Peter Sommer Travels Amalfi Coast tour here.

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Beautiful beyond belief: the coast of Caria

Excellent News: The Carian Trail (or Carian Way) was officially inaugurated on February 3rd.

We’d been waiting for this. This brand new hiking trail, a staggering 800km (500 mi) long, is the latest addition to Turkey’s growing network of long-distance walking routes through areas of immense historical interest and extraordinary natural beauty.

It all started in 1999 with the Lycian Way, dreamt up by the intrepid British traveller Kate Clow and taking in the shore and mountains of one of Turkey’s most fascinating regions. By now, the Lycian Way is well-established and profusely signposted along its length of 510km (320 mi). It has gained much praise and brings new interest to the area and to a new form of tourism.

The Gümüşkesen at Milas is not just a fully preserved Roman tomb, but also an ancient copy of the (much larger( Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

In recent years, several further long tracks have been added in many locations. Examples include the Saint Paul Trail, heading inland from Perge to Yalvak for 500 km/310mi, the Hittite Trail(s) focusing on the remains of that great ancient culture in the Central Anatolian uplands (236km/145mi in total), the 170km/105mi Abraham’s Path around Urfa in the far southeast of Turkey, or the Evliya Çelebi Way, following the steps of that famous 17th century traveller from the Gulf of Izmit (not far from Istanbul) on the Marmara Sea to Simav, deep into Anatolia for 650 km/400mi (and further distinguished as Turkey’s first long-distance horse-riding route). Turkey also shares in some cross-border tracks, among them the Via Egnatia walk following that important Roman road via Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to Albania (still under development), and the epic Sultan’s Trail from Istanbul to Vienna (2200km/1370mi through Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria)!

Less linear but no less attractive networks of pathways have also been created in many areas, e.g. in the Kaçkar mountains in northeastern Turkey and the Küre mountains above the Black Sea, or around Olympos and Çıralı on the Lycian Way.

The idea of a Carian Trail that has now come to fruition had been floating around for a while. The ancient region of Caria, named for its inhabitants, the Carians, is in the southwest corner of the Anatolian peninsula, roughly concurrent with the modern Turkish provinces of Muğla and Aydın. It is a greatly varied region, including substantial mountain ranges, rolling hills, a major lake and an extraordinarily convoluted coastline made up of innumerable inlets and peninsulas. The area has only two highly developed tourism hubs, around Bodrum and Marmaris, while the remainder is largely untouched and unspoilt. Ideal walking territory!

The monumental colonnade leading to the citz gate at Stratonikeia

Most importantly, Caria contains a vast number of major and minor archaeological sites, nearly all in very attractive locations, and the new Carian Trail passes many of them.

It starts at ancient Alinda near Karpuzlu, and then leads westwards over the majestic Latmos (Beşparmak) mountains to Herakleia ad Latmus, an ancient city set in a surreal rocky landscape on the shores of Lake Bafa. From there it turns southeast, crossing hill country and more mountains, to reach the mountain shrine of Zeus Labraundos, the most important sanctuary of the ancient Carians. Passing through Milas (ancient Mylasa and temporary Carian capital), it skirts the citadel of Pecin Kale and continues south to the shores of the Gulf of Gökova (or Ceramic Gulf). Here, the traveller has the choice of joining a westward branch into the Bodrum peninsula, taking in ancient Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) and some of the sites surrounding it.

The Carian Trail proper turns east, following the shore via ancient Keramos to the easternmost extremity of the Gulf, where ancient Idyma or the island city of Kedreai beckon. Again, a long side trail branches off, this time inland to the north, leading via Muğla (ancient Mobolla) to the lovely site of Stratonikeia (sounds familiar?).

Knidos – one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Turkey

The regular Carian Trail continues to follow the spectacularly beautiful shoreline, first south, then west, eventually leading into the long and narrow Datça peninsula. Passing through Eski (Old) Datça, the enticing former Greek village near the modern resort town of Datça, it eventually reaches the huge and rich site of Knidos, one of the foremost ancient cities in the area. This stretch of the trail will also offer grand views over the Aegean and the nearby Greek islands of Kos, Nisyros and Symi. It rounds the peninsula and returns to Datça.

Loryma is one of the best preserved Hellenistic fortifications in the Mediterennean

The trail picks up again further east, to follow a complex figure-of-eight course through the Bozburun and Loryma peninsulas, the most remote and most untouched part along the entire southwestern shoreline of Turkey. The sites it touches here include ancient Amos and Phoenix, as well as the magnificent Rhodian fortress of Loryma. The Carian Trail (currently) ends on the Bay of Marmaris. There are suggestions to expand the trail eastwards at some point, to lead via Kaunos, another major archaeological site, and Gocek to Fethiye, where it would join up with the Lycian Way.

The trail has been marked with signposts and/or paint-marks every 50 metres along its entire length, to make sure that walkers can follow it easily. Walking the Carian Trail, either for its full length or in sections should make for an unforgettable trip. The beauty of the terrain, be it wild slopes or fertile plains, the conjunction of vistas across shorelines, sea, hills and mountains, and the cultural heritage of the area, along with the traditional hospitality of its inhabitants and their delicious cuisine, will combine into a unique experience.

The walls of Phoenix, an unexplored site in southern Caria

At Peter Sommer Travels, we are very excited to see this great idea finally becoming reality, and very curious to see it in action this year. Caria has long been one of the core areas on our itineraries (in 2013, we have 10 tours in the area, including Cruising the Carian Coast and our Gastronomic Cruise in Caria) and many of the ancient sites listed above are not just among the highlights of our tours, but also among our personal favourites.

Our programme includes (and has done so for many years) a Walking Cruise on the Lycian Way, combining the pleasure of cruising on a traditional gulet with the adventure of hiking selected stretches of that Track (as a 1-week or a 2-week tour). Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to invite you on a Walking Cruise in Caria before long…

Until that’s the case, check out the information available (a map and guide in English will be published soon), get your boots and backpack, and enjoy!

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