Muğla Pınara Archaeological Site

PINARA RUINS

The ancient city is 40 kilometers from Fethiye, 5 kilometers west of the Fethiye-Kaş highway. It is reached by 2 kilometers stabilized road from the nearby Minare village.

The ancient writer Stephanus, quoting Byzantion Menekrotes, explains the establishment of the city by saying, "When the population of Xanthos increased so much, a group of elders established a city on the high hill of Kragos Mountain and named it PINARA, which means round". The fact that the upper acropolis, where the ruins of the early period of the city are found, is really round, gives this mythology a share of reality. The name of the city is read as "Pinale" in Lycian inscriptions. Today, the name of the village, which is located near the ancient city, is Minare in a way that resembles Pınara.

Strabon, quoting Artemidoros, reports that "One of the six cities with three voting rights in the Assembly of the Lycian Union is Pınara". Pınara Ancient City consists of a bath, theater, agora, odeon, rock tombs, upper acropolis and lower acropolis. When approaching the ancient city, hundreds of rock tombs carved into the rock on the steep eastern slope of the upper acropolis draw attention. When the upper acropolis was insufficient in a short time, the lower acropolis, where transportation was easier, was opened to settlement. In the Lower Acropolis, there are structures such as odeons, agoras, temples and pili graves. The fact that most of the rock tombs are in the form of residences gives us ideas about the Lycian Civil Architecture. Although the slopes of the Lower Acropolis are steep in a way that does not allow access, it was supported by the city wall in terms of both the creation of the terrace and the fortification. Passing through the gate to the south of the city wall, the Odeon leaning its back on the slope and the agora in the flat area in front of it constitute the focal point of the city. In the vicinity of the water source in the lower part of the Lower Acropolis, the earthquakes that the city experienced in ancient times and the piled graves and many tombs carved into the rocks attract attention.

Most of the rock tombs here are of house type and one of them is important because of the reliefs on the pediment and in the ante wall. In these reliefs, a city surrounded by walls is observed. It is thought that the city in the tomb relief is Pınara and that this tomb may belong to the Prince of Pınara.