The Tombs of Time: Tracing the Lycian Soul

Carved into the hills above the Xanthos Valley, the ancient city of Tlos rises like a legend retold. This is not a ruin, but a living echo of Lycian grandeur: a citadel of kings and demigods, where stone holds the memory of forgotten empires. Just 45 minutes inland from the secluded calm of AHÂMA, our architectural sanctuary on the Turkish Riviera, Tlos offers a powerful counterpoint to the stillness of the bay.

Set against the rugged slopes of Mount Akdağ, this is one of the oldest and most sacred cities of Lycia. History here runs deep, shaped by Hittite, Roman and Byzantine hands, yet it is the Lycian imprint that endures most vividly. A fierce democracy of city-states, the Lycians were builders of tombs, temples and cliffside legacies. Tlos captures the soul of that civilisation in stone and silence.

The site stretches across a sunlit acropolis, framed by the remains of an Ottoman fortress and a scattering of Roman ruins. There is a stadium, a basilica, fragments of baths and colonnades. But it is the rock tombs that command the greatest awe. Cut into the sheer limestone face, these tombs echo the architecture of Lycian timber homes, crafted as eternal dwellings for noble souls. Their facades are austere yet elegant, untouched by time.

Above them sits the fabled tomb of Bellerophon, the hero who tamed Pegasus and vanquished the Chimera. Whether myth or memory, the site has the aura of a place where stories took shape in stone and soared into legend.

From AHÂMA, the journey to Tlos is one of scenic poetry. Coastal curves, olive groves and pine-dappled ridgelines give way to mountain stillness. The route traces the heart of the Turkish Riviera, where the sea glimmers through every gap in the hills. And Tlos is only the beginning.

To the west, Xanthos and Letoon hold their place as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Xanthos, once the Lycian capital, weaves together Greek and Anatolian worlds, its theatre and pillar tombs etched with multilingual inscriptions. Letoon, once a sacred site for the cult of Leto and her children Apollo and Artemis, stands quietly in a valley where the river reeds whisper ancient prayers.

Closer to the coast lie the Amyntas Rock Tombs in Fethiye. These grand facades, cut into the mountain like stone porticoes, overlook the modern town from their silent perch. South of here, the ghost village of Kayaköy tells a more recent story of abandonment and exile, its empty houses steeped in melancholic grace.

And then there is Myra, near present-day Demre. Here, the tombs are stacked like honeycomb across a sunlit cliff, and the Roman theatre still breathes the drama of empire.

Each site marks a rhythm in the Lycian narrative. From myth to memory, from marble to mountain, the spirit of this land is written in stone. Set within Günlüklü Bay, 10 km east of the yachting hub, Göcek, in a protected 20-hectare biodiverse forest, design hotel AHÃMA was cast with a Lycian heart - an ecologically setting wrapped by the mighty Babadağ Mountains and rare oriental sweetgum trees (Liquidambar orientalis), treasured by ancient Lycian culture for their natural healing powers.

At AHÂMA, you are perfectly placed to follow its trail, guided not by time but by meaning.