Patara (Ancient City & Beach)

Ancient City

Capital of the Lycian League and home to one of the world’s first democratic parliaments — behind it, 18 km of untouched sand and turtle nests.

Buried among dunes west of Kaş and Kalkan, Patara is one of those rare places where history and nature peak at once. The city was the capital of the Lycian League, and its Bouleuterion (Parliament Building) — where the representatives of member cities cast their votes — is considered one of the oldest known democratic assemblies in the world; restored and open to visitors, sitting inside it feels like touching the roots of representative democracy. Patara is also the city where St. Nicholas (Father Christmas) was born around AD 270, and the Roman-era lighthouse at its harbour mouth is among the oldest surviving lighthouses in the world.

Just behind the ancient city stretches one of Turkey’s longest and most untouched beaches: running unbroken for about 18 kilometres, Patara Beach is protected together with the great dunes behind it. This shore is an important nesting ground for the endangered loggerhead turtle; the beach therefore closes to visitors at sunset, and building and night-time use are not permitted. Thanks to this careful protection, Patara is one of the rare shores that has stayed natural, free of concrete. It combines into one route with Xanthos, Letoon and Kaputaş.