Kaunos: The stones of Dalyan

by Recep Peker Tanıtkan

Visitors to the Mediterranean paradise of Dalyan also have the opportunity to visit an ancient city state with a continuous history of 2,000 years or more. In ancient times, Kaunos was a major trading centre. Besides, its famous rock tombs, it boasts many classical remains, an early church and a panoramic view. More secrets are waiting to be discovered.

Dalyan is not desperately in need of additional attractions. While other holiday destinations may be larger or have grown faster, more and more people are visiting Turkey’s Mediterranean coast for holidays each year. More importantly, the town enjoys a unique riverside location at the centre of the delta zone east of the resort and yachting hub of Marmaris. This is a world of lagoons, reedbeds and sandbars, crowned by an untouched beach synonymous with giant sea turtles. At the same time, it forms part of the Muğla recreation zone, where seaside holidays are increasingly combining with a growing range of sports and other activities.

Rock tombs

Nevertheless, if any further reason were needed for visiting Dalyan, its archaeological remains would suffice. The Lykian-style rock tombs on the far bank of the stream – the most impressive among many in the region - have captivated visitors for many years. For millennia, they have weathered the cruelty of time, carrying into the 21st century the secrets of the past. Sculpted out of huge perpendicular rocks, they are the fruit of enormous labour and astounding delicate workmanship. If they were to begin to speak to you in booming voices of all they have seen and heard, it would not surprise you in the slightest.

The tombs are signs of the wealth and strength of the ancient city of Kaunos (or Caunos), of which they formed the necropolis. The more elaborate are carved in a manner reminiscent of an Ionian temple, and contain three stone rows for the dead to be placed in. The columns enriching the fronts of the cenotaphs have been damaged in the course of time, and false walls have failed to deter treasure-hunters. But the lion reliefs continue to stare fiercely at one another.

Ancient port

Today the ruins of Kaunos itself, on the peninsula which rises beyond the graves, are attracting more attention. Excavations are currently being carried out under the guidance of Professor Cengiz Işık. The ancient city is thought to have been founded in the tenth century B.C.. Relics of the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods have been identified.

In its early days, the city was an important port for ships sailing to and from the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean: “Kaunos is on the coast and the [River] Calbis flows next to it,” wrote geographer Strabon, almost exactly 2,000 years ago. Later the formation of the delta was to separate Kaunos from the coast. Indeed, the original port to the south was probably already becoming unusable in the late Hellenistic period.

The internal port to the northwest apparently remained in operation much longer. Once very deep and guaraded by a chain, it is now a marshy area known as Sülüklü Lake.

Legendary beginnings

Who were the people of Kaunos? Were they neither Lycians nor Carians but a separate culture, perhaps originating in Crete? There is a confusing legend according to which the Calbis - today’s Dalyan stream or canal – was formed by the tears of Byblis, who was attracted to her twin brother Caunos. Embarrassed by these improper affections, Caunos went off to found Kaunos. After searching for him without success, Byblis threw herself off a high rock, but was turned into a spring by sympathetic nymphs. The twins were the children of King Miletus, founder of another ancient city, Milet, near Didim, and reputedly the son of Apollo and a Cretan princess.

Whatever its origins, the city is known to have enjoyed considerable autonomy in the Persian era, to have passed in and out of the political orbit of Rhodes in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great, and then to have enjoyed further prosperity as a Roman and Eastern Roman city linked to the Lycian church.

Theatrical settings

The acropolis - the inner citadel where the most important religious and civic buildings once clustered - is situated as one would expect on the highest and best protected part of the peninsula. This 152-metre peak offers a spectacular view of the entire ancient city, the town of Dalyan, the course of the canal between town and coast, the famous İztuzu Beach and the surrounding farms, orchards and forests. To the southeast, there is a sheer drop towards the stream. The inner and outer ramparts were built in the fifth century B.C., but substantially repaired in a much later era. They continue down to the west and southwest, where there is also a small fortress.

Into the western slope of the peninsula below the Acropolis, facing Southwest, nestles a typical Hellenistic-Roman theatre. The spectator section is 75 metres in diameter and is divided by eight staircases into nine seating areas, each of 33 rows. The whole section is also divided horizontally by a corridor. The stage building was once two storeys high, although never as high as the spectator section. The theatre remains in reasonably good condition.

Worship and trade

In the time of Herodotes, the pioneering Greek historian of the fifth century B.C., the people of Kaunos believed in their own gods rather than the alien gods. At least two Hellenistic and four Roman temples were subsequently built, and have been unearthed, and a tablet has been discovered mentioning the names of Apollo, Poseidon, Artemis and Aphrodite. In perhaps the fifth century A.D., the so-called Domed Church was built in a central location between the theatre and the rather well-preserved Roman baths. One of the oldest and best-preserved churches of its kind in Anatolia, it has a square plan (14x14.5 metres) and three naves, of which the central one is covered with a dome. Each nave has a separate entrance door. Small chapels were later added on either side.

Other remains range from an agora with stoa, a palaestra for sports practice, at least one store house and some Byzantine housing. At the site of the internal port, the remains of a breakwater are discernible, and there is a monumental fountain whcih bears an inscription mentioning the first century Roman emperor Vespasian and containing information about customs regulations.