Photos of the Ancient Greek Kounos Archaeological Site Ruins

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Photos of the Ancient Greek Kounos Archaeological Site Ruins, Dylan Turkey. Photos by Photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Ancient Greek Kounos Archaeological Site Ruins

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Photos of Kaunos (Caunus) Archaeological site near Daylan Turkey.

Founding Myth

Kaunos was an ancient city located on an inlet on the Aegean Sea, Named after the mythical Greek son of Miletos, Kaunos fell in love with his twin sister Byblis and in an attempt to avoid his illicit passion Kaunos ran away and built a new city far away.

Lycian Tombs

In the 5th cent. B.C Kaunos was a city on the border of Lycia and Caria. The rock tombs on the edge of Kaunos are fronted with Hellenistic Ionic order temple fronts. These are similar to Lycian rock tombs except that the rock is carved around the sides of the tombs almost making them freestanding. The rock tombs are cut into the cliffs above the River Dalyan that runs below.

Kounos Harbour

Kaunos sits on a hilly outcrop above a natural harbour that is today silted up. It is a wild archaeological site with a picturesque backdrop of rounded hills and the Aegean Sea in the distance.

A large 2nd cent. B.C amphitheatre that sat 5000 people which gives some idea of the importance and size of Kaunos in its heyday.

Basileos Kaunos

A round temple sanctuary was excavated at Kounos by Professor Ogun. It was built over an earlier an obelisk found 6 meters below the temple. This is thought to represent the god Basileos Kaunos to whom offerings would have been made.

Byzantine Kounos

The ruins of a Byzantine church are found on the site indicating that Kouros was still inhabited in medieval times. The church is the best example of a 5th cent. church in Anatolia. Today Kaunos is still the seat of a Bishopric although the seat is vacant.

The history of the city is the same as for all the Aegean cities. In the 4th cent. B.C Kaunos came under Persian rule until 334 B.C when Alexander the Great took the city. After Alexanders death Kaunos came under the control his General Ptolemy, whose family ruled Egypt until the death of Cleopatra. Kounos then became a Roman city