URARTU Carpet

This is the oldest and larges city of the mountain province in the Lycia, settled in the valley of theXanthos river. Until the Persian invasion in 429 B.C. it was an independent state. When the people ofXanthos, who had bravely tried to defend their city, realized theat they could not repulse the invasion, they first killed their women and committed mass suicede by throwing themselves into the flames.About 80 surviving families and people who immigrated there rebuilt the city, but a fire which broke outabout 100 years later razed in to the ground. In spite of this, the city again was rebuilt and as a result ofestablishing good relations with the west it was considered as an important centre. However, Xanthos again met withan unfortunate end. As a result of resisting the taxes the Roman Brutus wanted to impose on them, the city was largely destroyed and the inhabitants were drawn into a war. Thus Xanthos becamea city of disastres. The city itself consist of the Lycian acropolis and the parts remaining outside it, aswell as the Roman acropolis. The most interesting building is the Roman theatre and the building weat of the theatre. The most famous is the Harpy Monument which is a family sarcophagus situated on a rockThe original of this relief-decorated sarcophagus is in the British Museum and a very good copy of thisis in its place. Close by can be seen very interesting Lycian sarcophagi from the 6th to 1st centuries B.C.