Although it is written as Trabenna on the Patara Road Monument, the name of the city is mentioned as Trebenna in the inscriptions found in the city. Trebenna is the northeasternmost city of Lycia, and located about 32 km west of Antalya. In the Helenistic Period, Trebenna was under the sovereignty of Termessos which is a Psidian city. Trebenna was included in the Lycian League during the Roman Period and minted coins with its own name. It is known that two different Trebenna citizens were elected as the President (Lykiark) of the Lycian League in the 3rd century CE when it was the most prosperous. It is known that Trebenna established a sympoliteia with the city of Onobara during the Roman Period, possibly to gain access to the sea.
The ancient city was first identified by Karol Lanckoronski in 1882. Many surveys have been carried out by local and foreign researchers, but no excavation has been carried out. Existing findings do not date before the Hellenistic Period. Most of the buildings visible today belong to the Roman and Byzantine periods. Hellenistic Period ruins are limited to the inside of the acropolis walls. On the plain to the south of the Acropolis hill, there are Roman Period structures ekklesiasterion, sebasteion, stoa and agora. The large Roman bath is located on the slope of the hill called the Elmin necropolis, to the south of the acropolis. The other necropolis to the west of the city is called Irimli. Both necropolises contain monumental tombs.
References:
Çevik, N. 2005. Trebenna. Tarihi, Arkeolojisi ve Doğası – Its History, Archaeology and Natural Environment, eds. N. Çevik, B. Varkıvanç, E. Akyürek, Adalya Supplementary Series 1, Antalya.
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:
Ole Weidner, 2015
Çevik, 2021
Bora Bilgin, 2023
Tayfun Bilgin, 2023