The ancient city of Mnara was established at an altitude of 1350 m on the Kavak Mountain, approximately 37 km southwest of Antalya. There have been several different opinions about the location of the city until the discovery of Patara Road Monument which confirms the identification of the “Kavak Dağ” ruins as Mnara. It consists of a very steep and inaccessible rocky acropolis and the remains of buildings on its skirts. The first serious studies were carried out in 2004. In the Hellenistic Period the name of the city was converted to Marmara. It is also known that the city established a sympoliteia with Phaselis possibly starting in the Hellenistic Period and continued into the Roman era, which makes it the longest lasting sympoliteia in Lycia.
Despite the dense forest cover and heavy destruction by treasure hunters, agora, parliament building and temple structures were identified. The interior of the parliament building is completely covered with debris due to erosion. The temple was initially thought to be dedicated to Apollo Lykos or Zeus. However, it is now believed to be temple of Artemis after the 2007 discovery of a an inscription in Rhodiapolis, which clearly mentions a Mnara Artemis. A rectangular structure built right on the edge of the cliff at the southern end of the settlement is also remarkable. It consists of 11 linear rows of seats and an open stage with a background view of the entire coastline stretching from Antalya to Phaselis in the west and overlooking the Pamphylian Sea (Gulf of Antalya). Since there is no theater in the city, it is thought that this building was used for open-air meetings/ceremonies and performances. The similar structures that can be seen in the Psidia cities further north but this is the only example among the Lycian cities.
References:
Bayburtluoğlu, C. 2004. Lykia, Suna-İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü, İstanbul.
Çevik, N. 2008. ‘Northeast Lycia. The New Evidence – The Results from the past ten years from the Bey Mountains Surface Surveys’, Adalya 11, 189–233.
Çevik, N. 2021. Lykia Kitabı: Arkeolojisi, Tarihi ve Kültürüyle Batı Antalya, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara.
Dinç, S. 2012. ‘Hellenistik ve Roma Çağları Likyası’nda Sympoliteia’lar’, in Uluslararası Genç Bilimciler Buluşması I: Anadolu Akdeniz Sempozyumu 04-07 Kasım 2009 Antalya Sempozyum Bildirileri, eds. K. Dörtlük et al., 77-86.
Image sources:
Bora Bilgin, 2023
Tayfun Bilgin, 2023