Letoon Ancient City
Letoon Ancient City, located in Kumluova neighborhood of Seydikemer district of Muğla and thought to have been founded in the 7th century BC, has a historically important place as it is one of the most important political and religious centers of the Lycian Civilization. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988, Letoon has been an important cornerstone of world heritage in terms of archaeological values.
When the mythology of the holy city is investigated, we come across the legend told by the Roman poet Ovidius among the sources examined. The beautiful Goddess Leto, daughter of the Sky Titans Koios and Phoebe, falls in love with Zeus. Likewise, Zeus also falls for her. Hera, tired of her husband’s philandering, is ready to react to this situation, but this time the situation is a little different because Leto is pregnant. When Hera learns this, she goes mad with rage. As a price for her love, Leto incurs the wrath of jealous Hera, Zeus’ wife. Hera says, ” May she be unable to give birth anywhere the sun rises,” and sends her into exile. Leto wanders everywhere and finally gives birth to Apollo and Artemis, the twin children of Zeus, in Delos, the island that Poseidon raised from the sea with his trident and covered it with a dome of waves. Leto has to protect her children from Hera, so she walks to the point where the Xanthos River meets the sea. She keeps walking until she reaches the source where the Temple of Leto is located today. When she arrives here, she wants to bathe her children but is prevented by the locals who fear Hera’s revenge. So Leto turns them into frogs. With the wolves guiding her, she reaches the Xanthos Stream. Here she drinks water and washes her children. The Xanthos Stream, where the gods Apollo and Artemis bathed, is thus blessed. In Letoon, a water spring dedicated to water nymphs and terracotta statuettes dedicated to the gods called Elyanas by the Lyks and Nymphs by the Romans were found during the excavations in the vicinity of this spring.
There are three temples lined up side by side in the center of the ancient city, on a flat area carved into the rock, facing south, as in Hellenic temples, the facade faced the rising sun. For this reason, it is the only example in the Hellenic-Asian region. The one in the western most part is in Ionian order and belongs to the Mother Goddess Leto. The smaller temple in the middle is dedicated to Artemis and the easternmost temple is dedicated to Apollo.
The mosaic in the middle of the Temple of Apollo, known as the Apollo Mosaic, was removed and transferred to the Fethiye Archaeology Museum for risk of getting damaged during the excavation. The Tri-Lingual Epitaph found near the Temple of Apollo and exhibited today at the Fethiye Archaeological Museum is of great importance. The texts on the two large sides are the same, one written in ancient Greek and the other in Lycian. The inscription is a report of a special donation made by the king of Caunos for the benefit of a goddess, with an Aramaic summary on the narrow side, and is dated 337 BC. The Doric order portico was built in the 2nd century BC and a second portico was added when it was rebuilt in the 1st century AD. Being located within a sanctuary, it served as a shelter for visitors as well as a protection for the altar gifts.
During the Roman period, its religious character was maintained and a hall for the cult of deified Roman emperors, a large fountain dedicated to Emperor Hadrian, and an ‘Early Christian’ church on the eastern side of this fountain were built. Temples were systematically used in the construction of this church and the city, which gradually lost its importance was abandoned until it was rediscovered in 1840. Then in 1962, regular excavations of the site were initiated. Within the ruins, a stoic and Hellenistic period theater (towards the middle of the 2nd century BC) was built. It is also worth seeing among the other ruins.
İlknur K. Tütken
References: A. Balland, Les Dossiers de Archeologie, 1998, pp. 56-57 Jacques des Courtils Ksanthos- Letoon Guide, 2003
C. Le Roy Dossiers de l’archeologie, December 1998, pp. 42-50
