Holidays on the Turquoise Coast

Kitanaura is an ancient Lycian city, in the mountains above Kemer.
Historically, not much is known about the city. Even the name is controversial, therefore the Turkish name "Sarayçik" is often used. The Greek name Κιτιατήι, found in 1990 on a stele in Patara, may have been wrongly translated into Kitanaura. The translation is at least controversial.

Directly at the road there is a quite well preserved building, which is called a heroon or mausoleum. A little below the street level the building shows a kind of frieze. The rectangular stones used in this row of walls are decorated with raised figures of weapons, equipment and limbs.

The Roman Baths

Also at the level of the present road is the access to the thermal baths, signposted as "Bad". Three today free-standing round arches have survived the times as well as an opposite wall part with a round arch. Next to the Heroon, the Therme is the best preserved building in the city.

The baths were built in the 3rd century AD and were in operation until the 14th century. Even after a fire in the 6th century there were no major structural changes.
Apart from the Heroon, the bath is the only building in the city that has been preserved to a certain extent. It is located at the foot of the Acropolis and consisted of a palaestra and six other sections.
The quality of the construction and the size of the bath is remarkable for a medium-sized city in a relatively remote place in Lycia. With a size of 700 square meters, the building is more than twice as large as the central baths of Patara and the southern baths of Xanthos, two of the largest cities in Lycia.
The size of the baths has been influenced both by the population of a city and by the number of occasional visitors from outside the city. The location of the baths at the crossroads of busy streets suggests that the city was heavily frequented by travellers and the baths were used by them for a welcome rest. Remains of walls on the opposite side of the present street suggest an aqueduct through which the bath was supplied with water.

Although the city has been archaeologically explored by the University of Antalya, it has not been excavated. The area of the Acropolis has buildings hardly recognizable to the layman. The remains of the buildings give the impression of lasting human influence. Hardly one stone above the earth's surface lies on top of another. The Bouleuterion and the Byzantine basilica can only be identified with prior knowledge.

Die Mauern und Gebäudereste stammen z.T. noch aus hellenistischer, lykischer, römischer und byzantinischer Zeit. Die Stadtmauern sind zum großen Teil in den Fundamenten erhalten geblieben. Sie umschlossen die Akropolis. Die Mauern der ersten Bauphase sind in typischer Zyklopbauweise erstellt. In die römische Bauphase sind die Mauerteile einzuordnen, deren Steine behauen waren und eine rechteckige Form mit an den Fügekanten begradigte Ränder aufweisen.

But Kitanaura can also be reached from Kemer. If you are coming from Kemer, turn off at the bridge between the exits to Camyuva and Kiriş to Camyuva and drive along the river towards the mountains at the next opportunity. Soon after Kuzdere the quite well constructed road leads into a wild romantic gorge and further, always uphill, via the villages Gedelma and Ovacik past the Hotel Gül Mountain to the connecting road Antalya - Kumluça. Turn to the right. After 1 km you reach the turn-off (left) to Kitanaura. Turn left in the direction of Altınyaka, after 10 km you will reach the turnoff to Kitanaura on the right, as described from Kumluça.