Tlos

Tlos was an ancient Lycian city near the modern town of Seydikemer in Mugla Province of southern Turkey, about four kilometres northwest of Saklikent Gorge. It was one of the oldest and largest cities of Lycia, known as Tlawa in Lycian inscriptions and as Dalawa in Hittite sources, which shows its importance as early as the 15th century BC. It sits on the east side of the Xanthos valley atop a rocky outcrop. The city came under the Persian Empire around 540 BC, later became one of the six principal cities of the Lycian League, which Rome granted autonomy in 168 BC, and kept its standing in the Roman era. Earthquakes in 141 AD and 240 AD caused heavy destruction. In myth it was the home of the hero Bellerophon and his winged horse Pegasus. Charles Fellows rediscovered the site in 1838, and regular excavations have run since 2005.