Kaunos

Kaunos is an ancient city in Turkey, next to the town of Dalyan. Many tourists who visited the cities of Dalaman and Marmaris heard about him, but few people visited this ancient city. Almost all excursions affect only the ancient necropolis in the rocky area north of the Caucasus.

According to legends, the city was founded by Kavn, the son of the demigod Miletus. In these parts, he escaped here because of his love for his sister the Bible. At one time, Herodotus mentioned the inhabitants of the city in one of his books. During the excavations, it turned out that the city was created about a thousand years ago BC. This is evidenced by found amphor fragments made around 850 BC. At this time, the city was named Kbid. Around the 6th century BC the city became an important trade harbor, in those days, Lake Sulyuklu and Ala were a single bay, which allowed ships to sail to the port of Kavna. Then the Persian troops came to these lands, and the inhabitants of the city showed worthy resistance, but the Persians significantly exceeded the number and took the city.

The Persians owned Asia Minor for about a century, until the Kavn joined the Athens Maritime Union. Greeks from cities received large sums of money, due to which they were able to gather an army and weaken the Persian army. Also, the Athenians erected many buildings in the city, the remains of which can be observed today. In the second century, the Romans came here, who expanded the port, built baths, fountains, temples. The theater they built today is one of the most popular places.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the city became part of Byzantium, but in the 7th century it fell into decay due to raids by Arabs, and later several earthquakes occurred. The siltation of the river increased to all the troubles, and the city lost its port status. Around the 1420s, an epidemic occurred in the Caucasus, then another earthquake and the city was depopulated. The city was forgotten until the 19th century, since the 1960s, archaeological excavations have been carried out in the Caucasus.

It’s hard to get into the city on the ground, they sail here along the Dalyan River.