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- Letoon
- Letoon was the sacred cult center of Lycia, its most
important sanctuary, and was dedicated to the three
national deities of Lycia - Leto and her twin children
Apollo and Artemis. Leto was also worshiped as a family
deity and as the guardian of the tomb.
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- Letoon lies less than 10 km to the south of Xanthos
on a fertile plain. Xanthos and Letoon are often
seen as a "double-site", since the two were closely
linked and Letoon was administered by Xanthos.
Xanthos-Letoon is one of the most remarkable
archaeological sites in Turkey. For this reason, it has
been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.
Letoon has been under excavation since the 1950's and
since 1962 by the French Archaeological Mission, in
conjunction with the excavations being carried out at
Xanthos. Excavation goes on today - the team has done
some excellent work and in recent years has begun to
restore the Temple of Leto.
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- To reach Letoon, you turn west one km beyond the road
from Kinik to Fethiye and continue 5 km. It's not
far from Patara and a day trip from Kalkan, Kas or
Fethiye to Letoon or Xanthos could easily be combined
with a trip to the beach and/or ruins there.
Several finds from Letoon (as well as artifacts from
other sites), including the important Trilingual Stele
from Letoon, bearing inscriptions in Greek, Lycian and
Aramaic, (crucial in the deciphering of the Lycian
language) can be seen in the Fethiye Museum.
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- Mythology:
- According to a legend told by Ovid the latin poet,
the nymph Leto was loved by Zeus and gave birth to her
twins fathered by him, Artemis and Apollo on the island
of Delos. Zeus' jealous wife Hera pursued Leto and
chased her with the twins to Anatolia where she came to
the place of Letoon. Here she tried to quench her
thrist at a spring but local shepherds attempted to chase
her from the water - until she turned them into frogs in
retaliation. Another story gives the twins'
birthplace as the source of the Xanthos River and another
story says that wolves helped her find the Xanthos River.
In gratitude she named the country Lycia: Lykos is Greek
for wolf.
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- This mythology has been a popular subject in
art. See a painting of the Ovid's legend of
shepherds turned into frogs: Landscape with Leto and
Peasants of Lykia by Hendrick de Clerck.
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- History:
- Letoon was a sanctuary precinct and not actually a
city, and seems to have had no major settlement
associated with it at any period. It was
administered by Xanthos and was the spiritual heart of
Lycia, its federal sanctuary and the place of national
festivals. Letoon was the center of pagan cults
activity until perhaps the 5th century AD when Lycia was
ravaged by Arab attacks and the area started to silt up
with sand brought by the Xanthos River. It is
believed to have been abandonded by the 7th century
AD.
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- Archaeological finds date back to the late 6th
century BC. During the Archaic and Classical
periods (7th-5th century BC) the site was probably sacred
to to the cult of an earlier mother goddess (Eni Mahanahi
in Lycia), which was later superseded by the worship of
Leto.
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- During Roman Times, the Emperor Hadrian founded an
emperor worship cult at the site. Christianity
later replaced pagan beliefs and in the 5th century AD a
chuch was built using stones from the old temples.
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- An inscription found at Letoon refers to the
establishment of the cult as well as its rules for
monthly and annual sacrifices - offenders against this
were found guilty before Leto, her children and the
Nymphs. The Lycian cult of Leto was one of the many forms
of the wide-spread mother-goddess religion which
originated in ancient Anatolia and spread throughout the
ancient world. It is noteworthy that a woman was
allowed to preside over the national assembly that was
held each autumn at Letoon - perhaps a reminder of the
ancient matriarchal customs in Anatolia.
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- Main phases of the layout of the
sanctuary:
- In Classical times, some isolated edifices were built
on terraces laid out between the hill and the holy
spring.
- In Greek times, temples and porticoes were erected in
a a regular grid. In Roman times, the Nymphaeum was
re-designed in baroque style. In Byzantine times, a
basilica was built on the altar's terrace, which
dominated a site progressively covered by water. The
sanctuary was once bordered by large porticoes, where
pilgrims could rest and which closed off the
site. The three temples were erected on
podiums, which is typical of Lycian architecture. They
offered a spectacular view to pilgrims walking up the
Holy Street from the propylon (a monument gateway leading
to the sanctuary) which was located down the platform
where the temples and altars were built. The site
exends further to the south, but this area has yet to be
excavated.
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- Features of Letoon include:
- Temples - Remains of three temples, each
dedicated to one of the three deities of Letoon are
located side by side in the center of the site. All
three temples were built around older temples, probably
dating back to Classical times. The temples of Artemis
and Apollo were burnt down to slaked lime, however the
temple of Leto was only destroyed in the end of Antiquity
and so eighty per cent of the temple blocks have been
preserved.
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- The temple of Leto is the largest and
best-preserved temple, likely dating back to the 5th
century BC. The temple was built of very fine
limestone, the clear color of which created the illusion
of marble. An ionic portico surrounded the cult
room (cella), which was decorated with an elegant engaged
corinthian colonnade. Because of its dimensions and
the quality of its sculptured decoration, this temple is
one of the most exceptional examples of Greek
architecture in Turkey and one of the best preserved
Greek temples in the world.
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- To the east of the temple of Leto is the
temple of Apollo, dated c. 4th century BC. This
temple was Doric, unlike the other two temples, both of
which were Ionic. A gorgeous floor mosaic depicting his
symbols - bow and arrow, and lyre are seen here.
Between the other temples lies the temple of Artemis,
also dating back to c. 4th century BC. It is
smaller with excellent masonry.
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- Nymphaeum - To the southwest of the temples is
a nymphaeum connected to a sacred spring, full of
terrapins and frogs some say to be the unfortunate
shepards transformed by Leto's vengeance. It was
perhaps used in an religious immersion ceremony and was
built during the Hellenistic period with the Roman
addition of a semi-circular pool.
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- Basilica - remains of a Byzantine church with
a nearby mosaic fragment. The church is believed to
have been constructed in the 6th century AD and to have
been destroyed around the mid-7th century, possibly by
the Arab attacks of that period. The nave and
aisles were decorated with floor mosiacs depicting
geometric designs and animal figures (these can't be
viewed - they are now either covered or have been
removed). It is thought that there was a monastic
community associated with the church and, due to the
large number of drinking vessels found during excavation,
the late Martin Harrison (the chief excavator) dubbed its
members "the Drunken Monks". More information from
Bilkent University.
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- Amphitheatre - Letoon's theatre (said to be
one of the most beautiful of Hellenistic times) has
vaulted passages leading to entrances on either side and
is in a very good state of preservation. It was
constructed in the 2nd century BC and was used for
religious perfomances. The central part of the
auditorium was carved from natural bedrock and the aisles
made from ashlars. The theatre was situated at the
end of the road from Xanthos, which passed through a
Lycian cemetary. The entrance on the south side has
an interesting carving of a row of sixteen masks.
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- Tombs - some tombs of the south side of the
amphitheatre, including this sarcophagus with a relief of
a reclining figure and decorated with lion heads.
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- Safyurekm, Patty and Kemal ."Lycian Sites." 15
February 2009
<http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/letoon.htm>.
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