Antiochia ad Cragum

An ancient city on a cliff above the sea in Cilicia, founded around 170 BC by Antiochus IV, king of Commagene. The site was chosen for being unassailable: cliffs on three sides, the only approach a narrow isthmus, and before the Roman conquest the coast was considered pirate country. Under the Romans the city grew, and from that period there remain baths, a necropolis with hundreds of sarcophagi, a basilica and a market square. Excavations have been going on since 2005, and the main find has been a mosaic floor of more than three hundred square metres — the largest Roman mosaic found in Turkey. Below the ruins, right by the water, lies a cove with a natural arch washed out of the rock: the water in it is a transparent turquoise, and the way down is a steep path. There are signs from the highway, but the last few kilometres of road are unsurfaced, there are no tour groups, and you usually walk the ruins alone.

On the map