It may sound quite morbid and slightly creepy, going on holiday to visit funerary architecture, but in Lycia, on the southern coast of Turkey, witnessing the tombs of this culturally distinct land full of inscrutable people still gripping to an ancient past, really can be considered as being one a ‘far-out’ travel experience.
The infamous Lycian Tombs
The most noticeable difference about the tombs of Lycia compared to ancient sepulchres in other countries and even other areas of Turkey, is that Lycian tombs are often integrated in the middle of cites, built on the coastline and on the top of cliffs. Compared to the usual more discreet locations of burial architecture on the outskirts of towns and cities, tombs in Lycia play centre-stage in the urban landscape, evidence of the Lycian people’s pious devotion to the belief of afterlife, ancestor worship, and demonstrating their ties with eastern traditions.
