About Herakleia Latmos
Beside Lake Bafa, Herakleia at Latmos combines walls woven among huge granite rocks with a striking lakeside setting. The Temple of Athena, agora and rock-cut tombs share the landscape with medieval monasteries and prehistoric rock paintings.
History
The earlier Carian settlement of Latmos was reorganised at its present location in the late fourth century BCE and named Herakleia. Hellenistic walls incorporated the natural rocks into the defences. Sediment from the Maeander gradually transformed the Latmian Gulf into Lake Bafa, changing the city's access to the sea. The mountain surroundings became an important Byzantine monastic and eremitic area; rock shelters and frescoed chapels preserve traces of that period.
Highlights and principal structures
- Hellenistic walls and towers
- Temple of Athena Latmia
- Agora
- Sanctuary of Endymion
- Rock-cut tombs
- Byzantine monasteries and chapels
Historical period
Classical–Hellenistic–Byzantine