Bargylia & the Boğaziçi Lagoon

Ancient City

The remains of a Carian harbour city rising from a lagoon — a legend reaching back to Pegasus, and a quiet wetland that today hosts flamingos.

On the shore of the Güllük Gulf near the village of Boğaziçi, rising among reeds and salt lagoons, Bargylia was one of Caria’s harbour cities. Legend says the hero Bellerophon founded it in memory of his companion Bargylos, killed by a kick from the winged horse Pegasus — the same Bellerophon depicted astride Pegasus on the façade of the rock tomb at Tlos. These two destinations, in other words, are two ends of one legend.

The city’s remains — traces of a theatre, city walls and building foundations — are scattered over the hills facing the lagoon and along the water’s edge. Once a busy harbour, the surroundings filled with alluvium over the centuries and turned into a shallow wetland; the sea withdrew and the city was left inland. This is the repeated story of this coast, from Iasos to Herakleia.

But that transformation gave the area a wholly different richness: the Boğaziçi–Tuzla wetland is a haunt of flamingos and many migratory bird species. Rewarding for birdwatching and photography, the area brings together the light striking the lagoon and the silhouette of the ancient ruin, especially at sunset, in one of the region’s most striking views. It combines into one route with Iasos and Güllük. Because the wetland is fragile, it is important not to disturb the birds and to leave no trace.