Idebessos Antik Kenti

About Idebessos Antik Kenti

Idebessos is a Lycian city near Kozağacı, in Karacaören north of Kumluca, seven kilometres north of Akalissos and north-west of Kormos. The ending of its name suggests a settlement older than the visible remains, but the earliest historical information dates from the Lycian League period, when it formed a sympoliteia (political union) with Akalissos and Kormos, led by Akalissos. After the Roman period the city was called Edebessos, and in Christian times it was a bishopric within the Metropolis of Myra under the name Lebissos or Lemissos. The settlement is small and sits on a narrow ridge running north to south, parallel to Bey Dağı and overlooking the Alakır Çayı. Its remains spread over a level area to the west and over both walled slopes of a hill that drops steeply to the east, and the walls show Roman and Byzantine work. West of the wall is a small theatre facing the mountain, thought to have held six or seven hundred people, with five rows of seats visible and no trace of a stage building; its plan dates it to the Hellenistic period. North of the theatre is a small bath built in the Lycian tradition. Idebessos had a single vote in the Lycian League and is among the Ancient Cities of Lycian Civilisation proposed for the World Heritage List in 2009. It can be reached by private vehicle by following road signs from Karacaören.