The second largest city in central Lycia after Myra, Cyaneae sits on a hilltop plateau at 750 metres above sea level near the village of Yavu. The site contains close to 400 Lycian sarcophagi — more than any other Lycian city — along with a theatre, a library, Roman baths, a Byzantine church, and extensive city walls. The sheer concentration of elaborate tombs, many with detailed relief carvings, makes Cyaneae one of the most impressive necropolis sites in all of Lycia.
Highlights
- Close to 400 Lycian sarcophagi — more than any other city in Lycia
- Theatre, library, Roman baths and church on a plateau at 750 metres
- The oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus, whose spring showed whatever you wished to see
- Ogival tomb lids rising from the scrub in every direction
- Minutely surveyed by Tübingen University yet still unexcavated
At a glance
| Period | Lycian / Roman / Byzantine (5th century BC – 7th century AD) |
|---|---|
| Stage | 11 — Limanağzı to Aperlae |
Take care
- Slow, uneven ground among dense scrub and stones
- No facilities and little shade — carry ample water
History
Continuous settlement began in the 5th century BC, when Kyaneai was one of several dynastic seats in the Yavu highlands, and by early Hellenistic times it had become the administrative centre of the district. Nearly all of its celebrated tombs were cut during the Roman imperial peace, the mark of long provincial prosperity. The city kept a bishopric into the Byzantine era and was abandoned in the early Middle Ages; a Tübingen University team under Frank Kolb surveyed it minutely between 1989 and 2001, though it remains unexcavated.
Myth & legend
Pausanias records an oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus at Cyaneae: whoever gazed into its sacred spring saw whatever they wished to behold. The name itself may come from kyaneos, Greek for dark blue.
Geology
The city spreads across a limestone plateau at about 750 m in the Yavu highlands, a block of Mesozoic carbonates lifted between the coast and the inland valleys. Karst rules the setting: fissured rock, closed soil-floored hollows in place of streams, and thick, easily quarried beds of stone that supplied the raw material for tomb-cutting on a grand scale.
Wildlife & nature
The plateau is a sea of kermes oak, spiny burnet and sage, with orchids, anemones and grape hyacinth flowering between the stones after the winter rains. Spur-thighed tortoises and snakes move through the scrub, Rüppell's warblers sing from the thickets, and buzzards and short-toed eagles quarter the ridge.
The view
Close to 400 sarcophagi crowd a 750-metre plateau — ogival lids rise from the scrub in every direction, with the theatre half-lost among oaks and the sea a distant band to the south.
Photography
Low light throws the massed tomb lids into relief, so go early or stay late; a longer lens stacks rows of sarcophagi together; in spring, flowers between the theatre seats make the shot.
When to visit
April–May carpets the plateau with orchids and anemones; October brings cool, clear days; midsummer is punishing, with no shade or breeze among the head-high scrub.
Getting there
Buses and dolmuş between Kaş and Demre pass Yavu village below the site; from there a steep waymarked path climbs to the plateau in under an hour, and rough tracks serve suitable vehicles.
Where to stay
Simple village rooms operate around Yavu and the Hoyran uplands; Kaş and Demre bracket the site along the coast road with pansiyons and town hotels.
Food & water
Nothing on the plateau — carry all you need from Yavu; the climb is dry, the ruins sprawl further than expected, and ancient cisterns are hazards rather than supplies.
Safety
A high plateau densely covered with sarcophagi and scrub — progress is slow and the ground uneven throughout. No facilities and little shade; carry ample water. In an emergency dial 112.
Accessibility
Reached by steep path or very rough track; the plateau is a maze of uneven stone, hidden holes and dense scrub — hard going even for the sure-footed, with no step-free element.
Visitor tips
Allow more time than the map suggests and track down the library and baths west of the theatre; sturdy trousers and a stick help — this is Lycia's densest necropolis for good reason.
Listen: the audio guide
The full narration of this stop's audio guide, in text. The audio itself plays only in the app.
The path up from Yavu is steep and takes the best part of an hour, and then the ground levels and you step into something genuinely strange. Ogival tomb lids rise out of the scrub in every direction, near and far, ridge after ridge of them. Close to four hundred Lycian sarcophagi stand on this plateau, more than at any other city in Lycia. You are at seven hundred and fifty metres, on a hilltop that is a graveyard with a town attached.
Cyaneae was the second city of central Lycia, after Myra alone. Settlement began here in the fifth century BC, when Kyaneai was one of several dynastic seats in the Yavu highlands, and by early Hellenistic times it had become the administrative centre for the whole district. Nearly all of the famous tombs, though, are later than that. They were cut during the long Roman imperial peace, which is exactly what a provincial town looks like when three centuries pass without a disaster: everyone who can afford stone spends it on the family name. A bishopric survived here well into the Byzantine period, and then, in the early Middle Ages, the city was given up. It was not destroyed and it was not buried. The people went down towards the coast, and the scrub came up.
Now, look for four things, and accept in advance that finding them will take a while. First, the sarcophagi themselves, looked at rather than walked past. Many carry detailed relief carving, and the range of workmanship, some of it superb and some of it frankly ordinary, tells you how long and how comfortably this place prospered. Second, the theatre, half lost among the kermes oak, its rows still traceable through the branches. Third, west of the theatre, the Roman baths and, remarkably for a hill town, a library. And fourth, the edges of things: Byzantine church walls standing among the stones, and the city defences running round the rim of the plateau. Notice as you go what is not here. No stream, no spring, no valley floor, only closed soil-floored hollows in fissured limestone where the rain goes straight down and vanishes.
The quarry, the workshop and the cemetery were all one hill, and that is the whole explanation for the extravagance around you. This plateau is a block of Mesozoic carbonates lifted between the coast and the inland valleys, and its limestone beds are thick, sound and easily worked, so a family that wanted a monolithic tomb had nothing to import and nothing to haul up the mountain. They commissioned it from the ground they were standing on. Then, having built the densest necropolis in Lycia, the city walked away and left it. A team from Tübingen University under Frank Kolb surveyed the site minutely between 1989 and 2001, mapping it in extraordinary detail, and yet not a spade has been put to it. What you are looking at is exactly what the centuries left.
The name may come from kyaneos, the Greek word for dark blue. The better story is the one Pausanias tells. Cyaneae held an oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus, and its method was disarmingly simple: whoever gazed into the sacred spring saw whatever they wished to behold. Consider how much of prophecy that explains, and how little supervision it required.
From here the Way runs on down towards the coast, on the stage between Limanağzı and Aperlae. Stay while the light is still low if you can, when the massed lids throw their shadows across the scrub and the sea shows as a distant band to the south. Then take one long look back at the graveyard with a town attached, and go. Walk safe.
Common questions
How old is Cyaneae (Kyaneai)?
Cyaneae (Kyaneai) dates from the Lycian / Roman / Byzantine (5th century BC – 7th century AD) period.
How do I get to Cyaneae (Kyaneai)?
Buses and dolmuş between Kaş and Demre pass Yavu village below the site; from there a steep waymarked path climbs to the plateau in under an hour, and rough tracks serve suitable vehicles.
Is Cyaneae (Kyaneai) accessible?
Reached by steep path or very rough track; the plateau is a maze of uneven stone, hidden holes and dense scrub — hard going even for the sure-footed, with no step-free element.
When is the best time to visit Cyaneae (Kyaneai)?
April–May carpets the plateau with orchids and anemones; October brings cool, clear days; midsummer is punishing, with no shade or breeze among the head-high scrub.
Is there food and water at Cyaneae (Kyaneai)?
Nothing on the plateau — carry all you need from Yavu; the climb is dry, the ruins sprawl further than expected, and ancient cisterns are hazards rather than supplies.
Where can I stay near Cyaneae (Kyaneai)?
Simple village rooms operate around Yavu and the Hoyran uplands; Kaş and Demre bracket the site along the coast road with pansiyons and town hotels.
What should I know before visiting Cyaneae (Kyaneai)?
Allow more time than the map suggests and track down the library and baths west of the theatre; sturdy trousers and a stick help — this is Lycia's densest necropolis for good reason.
Is Cyaneae (Kyaneai) safe to visit?
A high plateau densely covered with sarcophagi and scrub — progress is slow and the ground uneven throughout. No facilities and little shade; carry ample water. In an emergency dial 112.
Nearby on the route
Plan the visit
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