The extensive ruins of Heracleia by Latmus are situated picturesquely on the shores of Lake Bafa, which is the remainder of the former Latmian Gulf. In ancient times, around this bay, many port cities were established, including Miletus, Priene, and Myus. Just as in their case, also the history of Heracleia is closely associated with the activity of the Meander River. This river for centuries gradually silted up the bay, depriving nearby cities of the access to the Aegean Sea.
Heracleia was founded in the farthest, eastern point of the Latmian Gulf, at the foot of Mount Latmus (tr. Beşparmak Dağı, i.e. Five-Finger Mountain). For this reason, in ancient times, the settlement was called Latmus (Latmos). Since its conquest by the Carian King Mausolus, it was called Heracleia, reflecting the king's plan of the Hellenization of Caria. The nickname 'Latmian' was added to distinguish it from other settlements bearing the same name.
Historical overview:
In mythology
The most interesting mythological story associated with Heracleia by Latmus is the story of Endymion. According to the local version of the myth, a handsome young man was a shepherd. One night he fell asleep in a cave on the slope of Mount Latmus. While he was sleeping, Selene, the goddess of the moon, saw him in her bright light. Love-struck Selene spent the night with the young man, but when Zeus learned of their love, he decided that Endymion should never wake up from his dream. Endymion fell into an eternal sleep, preserving his youth and beauty, and Selene visited and made love with him, bearing him 50 daughters.
The myth of Endymion survived in the memories of Heracleia inhabitants until Christian times. Endymion was then revered as a local saint, as one of the many hermits who were attracted to the Mount Latmus. On the slopes of the mountain, an ancient tomb with a sarcophagus was discovered. It was considered to be the resting place of Endymion and transformed into a place of worship. Every year, on the day that was dedicated to the celebration of Endymion, local monks opened the sarcophagus. The skeleton deposited there apparently emitted strange sounds, considered to be Endymion's voice trying to communicate and tell people the name of God. A rock tomb uncovered in modern times by archaeologists seems to be the confirmation (at least partial) of the truth of this story. Although there was no sarcophagus inside, many sarcophagi are located within the ruins of Heracleia, adding the romantic and mysterious feel to the place.
The story of Endymion and Selene has been retold and reinterpreted many times. Possibly, its most famous rendition is the poem Endymion by John Keats, first published in 1818. In this version, Endymion is depicted as the "brain-sick shepherd-prince" of Mount Latmus, while his love is renamed Cynthia. The opening lines of this poem have also been quoted and even parodied many times by many characters from popular culture, including Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka. Let us finish the story of Endymion from Latmus by recalling these enchanted lines:
"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing."
History of the settlement
Latmus was initially a Carian settlement, adjacent to the areas of Ionian colonization. It was founded around 1000 BCE by Carians who had been driven out by the Greeks settling on the Aegean shore of Asia Minor. The Carians found shelter in the inhospitable but safe rocky landscape of the Latmus Mountains. The originally Carian city came under Lydian and later Persian rule in the 6th century BCE, just like the cities of Ionia. From 499 to 494 BCE, Latmus, like the rest of Caria, took part in the Ionian Revolt against Persia.
In the 5th century BCE, it belonged to the Delian League, paying the minimal annual fee of one talent that reflects its weak economic position in that period. Then, in the middle of the 4th century BCE, Latmus came under Persian rule again and became part of the satrapy of Caria, which was ruled by a local dynasty of Hecatomnids.
A detailed account of the strategy used by Mausolus of the Hecatomnid dynasty to gain control of Latmos is given by Polyaenus, a 2nd century CE Roman author and rhetorician, in his Stratagems in War: "In order to gain control of Latmus, a strongly fortified city, Mausolus pretended that he wanted to form a close alliance with the Latmians. For that purpose, he restored to them the hostages, whom Hidrieus had taken; and he appointed Latmians to be his bodyguard, as if they were men on whose loyalty he could trust. He made a point of obliging them, in whatever they wished; and after winning their support in this way, he asked them to send him three hundred men as guards for his person. He pretended that he had business, that required him to go to Pygela, and that he was afraid of the sinister schemes of Herophytus of Ephesus. The men whom he asked for were immediately sent to him, and they accompanied him, along with other forces he had in readiness, as he marched to Latmus, on his route to Pygela. When the citizens all came out, to see the army pass, a body of troops, whom he had placed in ambush during the night, sallied out, and occupied the city, which had been deserted by its inhabitants, with the gates left wide open. Mausolus then turned round and entered Latmus with all his forces, and made himself master of the city. "
The city was then completely rebuilt at the new location, on the site further west, and renamed Heracleia. It was constructed according to the principles of the Hippodamian plan of city layout, also known from Priene and Miletus. It happened, most probably, during the reign of Lysimachus, the successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BCE, became king of Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedonia. In the Hellenistic period, the old city of Latmus, east of new Heracleia, served as a necropolis.
Additionally, writing in the 6th century CE, Stephanus of Byzantium recorded that the city was also briefly known as Pleistarcheia, after a local ruler called Pleistarchos. He was the son of Antipater and brother of Cassander, and governed Caria for several years following the battle of Ipsos in 301 BCE.
In the early 2nd century BCE, Rome granted freedom to Heracleia, which had prudently and wisely changed sides before the defeat of the Seleucid king Antiochus III by Rome. This marked the beginning of the city's golden century. In 133 BCE, Heracleia, as part of Caria, was incorporated into the Roman province of Asia. Heracleia, which was located on the outskirts of the province, did not win the favour of imperial or senatorial sponsors, however. Only miniature Roman baths changed the old Hellenistic cityscape.
Heracleia's source of wealth in Hellenistic and early Roman times was the maritime trade. From the account of the ancient geographer Strabo, it is known that even in the first century BCE the city had access to the sea and provided anchorage for the boats: "Next follows the Gulf of Latmus, on which is situated Heracleia under Latmus, as it is called, a small town with a shelter for vessels. It formerly had the same name as the mountain above". Strabo also noted the existence of the cult of Endymion and his sanctuary: "At a little distance further, after crossing a small river near Latmus, there is seen in a cave the sepulchre of Endymion."
In the Byzantine period, Heracleia became a place eagerly chosen by hermits and monks. They built many churches and monasteries on the shores of Lake Bafa, its islands, and the slopes of Mount Latmus. In the 7th century, the Latmus Mountains were settled by monks from Sinai and became a holy mountain, comparable to Mount Athos in Greece. Even today, Heracleia remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.
At the end of the 14th century, the Ottomans defeated the regional rival Turkish dynasts in the southwest of Asia Minor. By this time at the latest, Lake Latmus was completely cut off from the sea and Heracleia's economic development was no longer possible. Today, the small village of Kapıkırı stands among the remains of the ancient city.
Archaeological research:
Heracleia has never been subjected to systematic archaeological excavations, so its vast area remains relatively poorly studied. The area was first studied by Theodor Wiegand, a German archaeologist, in 1905.
At the beginning of the 20th century there were several archaeological surveys, in Heracleia itself and in its environment. For instance, Friedrich Krischen published a book on the city's fortifications, Die Befestigungen von Herakleia am Latmos, in 1912.
Research in Heracleia continued in 1976-79 on behalf of the German Research Council and, from 1984, on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute by Urs Peschlow. Anneliese Peschlow-Bindokat did research on the predecessor settlement Latmus, situated only some 100 meters to the east of Herakleia. Moreover, a few years ago, the University of Tübingen did a survey with the main emphasis on the development of settlement activities.
Sightseeing:
Heracleia ruins are located in the area of modern Turkish village known as Kapıkırı. Ancient Heracleia was planned according to the so-called Hippodamian plan. The streets were arranged in an axial and symmetrical pattern, running from west to east or north to south.
The city walls surrounding the ancient city were built by either Mausolus or Lysimachus. They had a total length of about 6.5 kilometres, and their circuit was fortified with as many as 65 towers and numerous gates. Later, the fortified area was reduced by an intermediary wall, and its circumference measured only 4.5 kilometres. The remains of these fortifications are among the best preserved ancient buildings of this type in the world.
Near the centre of the ruins of Heracleia there is the agora of the Hellenistic period, an open square measuring 60 by 130 meters. The agora itself was constructed on a terrace supported on the south side by a well-preserved building with two levels of shops, the upper one opening into the agora itself, and the lower one entered from the area below.
At the northeast corner of the agora is a city council building, i.e. the bouleuterion, most probably from the 2nd century BCE. There is not much left of it, but the discovered fragments indicate that the upper parts of its walls were decorated with half-columns of the Doric order. This means that the bouleuterion of Heracleia was similar in plan to the bouleuterions at Priene and Miletus. Among other found fragments of the building, there is a pediment, an architrave, and a triglyph frieze. The stone seats of the bouleuterion in Heracleia are arranged in a U shape.
Heracleia's most important temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena, as attested by an inscription discovered on the spot. Its ruins stand on a hill overlooking the city, just to the east of the agora. It is one of the few structures in the city not aligned with the Hippodamian grid. The temple was built in the Hellenistic period, maybe in the early 3rd century BCE. Built on the rectangular plan of 9 by 17 meters, as the temple in antis, it consisted of a cella, i.e. an inner chamber, a pronaos, i.e. an atrium surrounded by a colonnade, and two Doric columns on the front. The decorative façade was built of marble, but the other parts of the temple were erected of the locally found gneiss. This common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock was also used for most of the city's buildings and its fortifications.
Immediately to the northeast of the bouleuterion, one can trace the remains of the Roman-era baths, one of very few structures of this period in Heracleia. Further on, in the same direction from the bouleuterion, it is possible to find scanty vestiges of a nymphaeum, i.e. a monumental fountain, a theatre, possibly from the Roman times, and the ruins of the building that Ekrem Akurgal, a prominent Turkish archaeologist, called "insignificant remains of an unidentified temple".
To the south of the agora, there is a building dubbed the Sanctuary of Endymion. It is a temple of prostylos type, with four columns in front of a vestibule. It is an unusual structure, built into a rocky outcrop, facing southwest and thus not aligned with the urban grid. The building consists of a horseshoe-shaped chamber, 14 meters across, its walls partly built of masonry, and partly incorporating the existing bedrock, closed off by a cross wall with a central door, in front of which was a façade consisting of a square pier. Even further to the south, there are remains of another unidentified temple.
In the far southern part of Heracleia, there is a Byzantine fortress. Beyond this castle, there is a necropolis, with tombs carved into the rock. Some of them are now flooded by the waters of Lake Bafa.
Visitor tips:
The admission to the ruins of Heracleia by Latmus is free of charge and unlimited during any time of day and night.
Getting there:
By bus: the buses connecting Söke (to the north) with Milas (to the south) stop at the crossroads of D525 road with the local road leading to the lake. However, the distance from this point to Kapıkırı village is further 7.5 km. There is a local minibus, departing from Kapıkırı around 8:00 am and going back around noon. The safer alternative is taking a taxi.
By car: take D525 road from Söke to Milas, and turn off in the northern direction in Bafa village into the local road to Kapıkırı. This local road takes you through several villages situated on the eastern shore of Lake Bafa, to Kapıkırı village. On the way, you can admire magnificent views of Beşparmak mountain range, different rock formations, and Lake Bafa. The distance from Söke to Kapıkırı is 61 km, and from Milas - 35 km.
