Letoon

In Greek mythology, a claim for an early cult of Apollo in the valley of the River Xanthus, unsupported by history or archaeology, was provided by two myths, each connected to an eponymous hero, Lycus.[2]

One myth originated from the autochthonous inhabitants of Rhodes, the Telchines, said to have colonized the region at the time of Deucalion's flood. The other Lycus was an Athenian brother of Aegeus who was driven from Athens, a seer (a diviner) who introduced the cult of Lycaean Apollo. Folk etymology made Lycus the Athenian colonizer of ancient Lycia.[2]

Letoon was the ancient cult centre of Xanthos, and the sanctuary of the Lycian province and the Lycian League of Cities. Inscriptions found at the site indicate that it was where the Lycian rulers declared their decisions to the public. An inscription dated to 337 BCE, featuring texts in the Lycian language, Ancient Greek and Aramaic, was found there. The site includes the ruins of a Roman nymphaeum, built on a sacred water source. The site was used to worship the Greek goddess Leto, joined by her twin offspring, Artemis and Apollo. The architecture influenced that of other Lycian cities such as Patara, Pınara, and Myra.[1]

The sanctity of the site is the purport of an anecdote related by the 2nd century Greek historian Appian concerning Mithridates VI of Pontus, who was planning to cut down the trees in the sacred grove for his own purposes during his siege of Patara, but was warned against this sacrilege in a nightmare.[3]

The site remained active through the Roman period. It was Christianised by the construction of an basilical church.[4]

Letoon was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Xanthos, in 1988.[1]

Archaeological finds at Letoon date to at least the 6th century BCE, and pre-date the Greek cultural hegemony in Lycia.[5]

The foundations of the three Hellenistic temples dedicated to Leto and her children have been excavated under the direction of the French archaeologist Henri Metzger from 1962.[6] The temple of Leto was successfully reconstructed in its original setting between 2000 and 2007 using original pieces found during excavations carried out since 1950s.[1]

The north portico

The three temples

Letoon is located south of the village of Kumluova in the Fethiye district of Muğla Province, Turkey.[7]

Discoveries at the site made in the 1960s include the Letoon trilingual, bearing inscriptions in Lycian, Ancient Greek and Aramaic, which is conserved in the Fethiye Museum.[8] The remaining ruins remain largely intact and unaffected by tourism or modern building, in part due to their distance from any modern settlement.[1]

According to UNESCO, the archaeological sites at Xanthos and Letoon represent “the most unique extant architectural example of the ancient Lycian Civilization”.[1] UNESCO has acknowledged that the Lycian rock inscriptions are the language’s most important texts, and have a crucial role in helping to understand both the ancient Lycian people, their civilization, and their long-lost language.[1]

Letoon is a 1st degree archaeological site and so subject to conservation legislation. It is within an Environment Protection Zone under the responsibility of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. The Regional Conservation Council approved a Conservation Plan in 2006.[1]

Visually affected by greenhouses which surround it, Letton is also threatened by seasonal rising of the water table. The construction of water channels in 2006 acted to mitigate the effect during excavation works. The Turkish government has begun to control the surrounding environment and address issues relating to the preservation of the monuments, such as the management of visitors to the site, and to raise local awareness of its importance.[1]

• Clow, Kate (2000). The Lycian Way. Ankara: Upcountry (Turkey) Ltd. ISBN 978-09539-2-180-5.
• Dusinberre, Elspeth R. M. (2013). Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-11070-1-826-6.
• Greenhalgh, Michael (2009). Marble Past, Monumental Present: Building with Antiquities in the Mediaeval Mediterranean. Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-90041-7-083-4.
• Grimal, Pierre (1996) [1951]. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxford, New York: Blackwell. ISBN 978-06312-0-102-1.
• Metzger, Henri (1966). "Fouilles du Létoon de Xanthos (1962-1965)". Revue Archéologique (in French). Nouvelle Série, Fasc. 1: 101–112. ISSN 1266-7706.

• Bayburtluoğlu, Cevdet (2004). Lycia. Antalya: Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations. ISBN 978-97570-7-820-3.
• Metzger, Henri (1979). Fouilles de Xanthos [Xanthos Excavations] (in French). Vol. 6: La stèle trilingue de Létôon. Paris: C. Klincksieck. ISBN 978-22520-2-109-5.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Letoon.

• Canadian Epigraphic Mission at Xanthos-Letoon, website of the research project on Xanthos and Letoon by Université du Québec à Montréal and Université Laval, including downloadable published works
• Images of Letoon from PBase.com
• Images of Letoon from Turkey Photo Guide