West agora of Ksanthos

The ancient city of Xanthos, both economically and administratively one of the most powerful cities of the Lycian region, especially during the Classical Period, is situated on a sloping land with a north-south direction, rising on the bank of EĢen Creek, which passes through the town of KaĢ‟s Kınık village and also forms the border between Antalya and Fethiye. The city is 7 km (bird- fly distance) away from the coast. The first scientific explorations of Xanthos began in the first quarter of the 19th century. As a result of the studies conducted in Xanthos so far, while architectural structures dated to the Archaic and Eastern Roman Periods, particularly Classical and Roman structures,have been identified, there are hardly any structures dated to the Hellenistic Period. Among them three agora structures, two in the centre and one in the west of the city are especially noteworthy since they reveal how the concept of city planning in the Lycian cities changed during the Roman Period. This study focuses on the Agora which is located on the western side of Xanthos and seems to have functioned continuously from the end of the Late Archaic Period until the end of the Middle Byzantine Period except when it was temporarily abandoned after the Arab invasions in 6 A.D. Agora was in poor condition despite the fact that it underwent a series of repairs and modifications. The area surrounded by porticos on four sides had rectangular postaments on the inner stylobates, symmetrically placed pedestals and above them Corinthian type columns, column capitals, architraves and cornice pieces of flat outer surface that turned the structure into an entirely sheltered unit and also rendered it visually attractive. This site which possessed a religious and political nature from the Classical Period onward retained its character until the Roman period regardless of varying cultural values.During the Byzantine Period it tranformed into a mostly religious and commercial center , in the Middle Byzantine Period it lost its religious function and in the 11th century it was deserted. The effects of different periods can be observed in the site,the most spectacular of which are two churches, one in the agora square and again in the square a little chapel, a winery, shops, a metal workshop, pond and fountain structures.