Mount Olympus & Mount Moses in Anatalya

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Such a surprise to learn that there is a Mount Moses and Mount Olympus along the Lycian Way. 

The day began with a major hike towards Mount Olympus. We were challenged but the views were spectacular. 

Have you ever crossed a babbling brook with a knapsack on your back and hiking boots on your feet and poles in hand? It was like walking across a balance beam. I started off gracefully, until the pack on my back shifted left.

There it went downstream!!!

Our fearless and quick thinking tour guide, Yunus Ozdenir whipped off his hiking boots and waded in the water to retrieve it downstream. It was a lucky save!!!  

He said that because it was at the start of the hike my bottle was full of water which made it heavier to be carried away!! 

We trekked down to see the burning flames of Chimaera. These are the eternal natural fires of Lycia that dot the landscape. The flames burn from crevices in the rocks of the Cirali Mountains and ancient beliefs credit this location as the source of the myth of the Chimera,  a ghastly creature which is composed of the parts of various animals and who breathes hot fire flames in defence. 

These same fires were mentioned in the Iliad by Homer over 3,000 years ago  seamen used them as a navigation tool like a lighthouse as they travelled between Olympus and Phaselis. 

There was a shrine to the God of the blacksmiths at the base of the slope. The weapons were thought to be sacred weapons  and thus we’re very powerful. The apse is still quite intact. 

There were more tombs to discover including one unearthed quite recently down by the ancient harbour. Here is the first Mausoleum or family cemetery. Lykiarkes Marcus Aurelius lies there. 

Marcus was head of the Lycian parliament perhaps the elected speaker of the house. The were five cities with three votes each: Patara, Arycanda, Myra, Olympos, Phaselis. 

We also visited the well preserved ancient city of Korycos which was the base of the Pirates long ago. Where one pirate plundered many a ship travelling the Sea on their way from Egypt with a precious cargo of grain. His reign of terror lasted between 30 -40 years  

After that the Roman army said enough is enough and they took down this menacing pirate. 

Later in the day, we found a very intact Acropolis and it was in the ancient church that I opened our storytelling session facing Mount Moses to tell a Baal Shem Tov story: “Only the Story Remains” a gift that I have left on the Lycian Way!! 


                     

      Crossing a babbling brook                        Burning Flames of Chimaera

    

Monumental tomb (northern necropolis) belongs to Marcus Aurelius Arkhepolis from Olympos  
Head of Lycian League

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An afternoon of storytelling with Mount Olympos behind                      An ancient sarcophagus 

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