Gagai Antik Kenti

About Gagai Antik Kenti

Gagai (Gagae) is the site of an ancient town on the south-east coast of Lycia, with its ruins in Kumluca district. The town gave its name to the Gagates stone. Excavations in 2007 revealed an upper and a lower acropolis and evidence of Rhodian colonisation. Several ancient authors, including Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides and Galen, mention the stone of Gagates, which was said to drive snakes away and was credited with various healing powers. It was also used in jewellery. The stone was found by the mouth of a river called Gages, near Gagai, and was named after the river. It is described as a form of jet. The location of the Gages river and of the source of the stone has not been established, although one suggestion is that Gages may be an ancient name of the Alakır river.