Phaselis

Phaselis is an ancient Greek city on the southern coastline of Lycia, in present-day Antalya Province, Turkey, near the modern village of Tekirova. It sits at the edge of a gulf with three natural harbors, which contributed to its role as a maritime trading center in antiquity.

The city was founded by Rhodian colonists in the 7th century BCE. Its harbors and protected position fostered a thriving port economy, linking Lycian and broader Mediterranean networks. Phaselis prospered through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, at times issuing its own coins and maintaining political autonomy within the region's Lycian polities. The site changed hands under successive powers, and its fortunes waned in late antique times, with urban life eventually declining and the area being abandoned in the medieval era.

Today, excavations and preservation efforts have revealed extensive ruins, including the three harbors, city walls and towers, an elaborate theatre, public baths, an agora, cisterns, and a necropolis. The remains are a major archaeological and tourist site, illustrating the urban layout of a Greek-influenced Lycian port city. Phaselis is a popular stop along the Turkish Riviera, and its ruins are protected as part of national heritage.