LYCIAN TOMBS

Some of the best examples of Lycian tombs are to be found at Myra on the south coast, around 90km southwest of Antalya.

The custom of burying the dead in a tomb resembling a house began in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC and continued without pause until the end of the Age of the Roman Empire. 

The Lycian region is literally an open-air museum with many different tomb structures to be seen.


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The early buildings found in this region have been over-laid by those of the Hellenistic and especially the Roman periods; but the Lycian tombs, for which the country is famous, are in many cases earlier than the time of Alexander.

They are frequently adorned with sculpture works.  Many are still in excellent preservation.

In some ages, the graves were made into tumuli by piling soil on top of them, which turned them into distinctive and magnificent tombs. 

The most splendid of these tumulus tombs were Phrygian King Midas' 53 meter high tomb in Gordion as well as that of the Lydian King Alyettes, which is located in Bintepeler near Sard and stands 69 meters high.
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