| | | Berif information You will be picked up from your hotel and meet with group and tour guide and start to full day sightseeing tour in Antalya.
First we began the tour by visiting, Termessos. The location of Termessos is the first thing that catches one off guard. Especially now that the greater majority of the world is living on flat land or at most on the skirts of the mountains. Termessos is on top of the mountain that is more than a 1,000 m. high. Yet it was an extensive city for its time. Tough people!!! Indeed they were. They are mostly known for confronting Alexander the Great: They took thirty Lycian cities on at once before Alexander's time. They are also said to have kept their freedom from Rome as well. They made treaties on their own terms! When visiting the site, one can not help thinking how a city existed here. First we are met with the 'Royal Road'; constructed either by carving the rock or with heavy boulders. Then we meet their watch towers/outposts, which they had many around the city. Then we see the outer walls and inner walls and finally we reach the city - after having climbed for forty five minutes! The gymnasium bath complex greets you in full existence. Unfortunately, nature has taken its turn and is slowly but surely covering the ruins. Sadly, there has not been any excavations other than surface surveys so you go through the ruins not knowing what is below but you can't help but be amazed at the fine workmanship of these buildings and standing walls. After more climbing you come to the theater. The theater location is breathe-taking, being right on the cliff, overlooking the mountains and down on the plain. Despite man and natures torment', the theater is in fairly good condition. The cavea is almost complete but the stage building is not so lucky however it is still in good condition. Then one walks through a palaestra (one of the very few flat areas in the city) to the Bouleterion; the city hall, standing to full height with fine and strong walls that has survive till now. It is dated to 1st century BC. For those who are willing to climb up and down through the bushes and trees and the big pile of stones of the temple of Artemis, there is a reward. A full view, looking down on the city of Antalya and the bay of Antalya. It is an unbelievably beautiful sight indeed!!! Walking to the Agora through the only paved street one walks by 'The Founders House' so called because of an inscription found with the big pile of stones clearly telling the visitor how big the house must have been. The Agora was surrounded by the Stoa of King Attalus the 2nd of Pergamum and the Stoa of Osbaras, most likely a rich citizen of Termessos. In the middle there is a heroon and five vast cisterns. The city must have had extreme water problems and they did everything possible to collect every drop of water. The tomb of Alcetas (hero of the youth of the city) is on the other side of the valley but worth going to see it. Plus you get to walk through the beauty of the rich fauna which one tends to overlook. You can miss much of Termessos because you are watching to see where you are stepping and often miss the ruins that takes one away in to past. There is much more to see, time permitting, in Termessos. The vast necropolis will take hours to thoroughly explore this wondrous place.
Karain Cave is found inside the borders of Yağca Village which is at 5 - 6 km. distance to the old Antalya - Burdur highway, 30 km northwest of Antalya. The Karain cave which is one of the greatest natural caves of Turkey is 150 m high from the travertine valley in front, ve430-450 m. high from the sea. The cave stands in the period of the beginning of the history of the mankind, as the cavern was continuously accommodated by early humans during the prehistoric and classic periods starting from lower Paleolithic, medium and high Paleolithic, Neolithic, Calcolithic and Ancient Bronze stages. As a natural result of this, the cavern contains a thick cultural layer which can be 11 meters. But the longest and most important accommodation period of the cave is relevant with the Paleolithic period. The usage at the classical period is more likely as an Offering Cave (Temple) and there are Greek inscriptions and niches at the cave exterior walls and ceiling. The archeological findings discovered from the archeological excavations done inside Karain Cave are displayed at the Antalya Museum and at the Karain Museum which is just near the cave. At the end of the tour you will be transfered back to your hotel.
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