A democratic union inspiration, year of Patara

We started from the source of Inpinar and hoped to reach the blue of the Mediterranean by tracing the water towards the depth of time. We passed the brick-colored paths between the pine trees and stopped by the villages. First, we reached the village of Uzumlu, which is about 23 km away from Fethiye, famous for the traditional architecture of the ancient city of Kadyanda and for its dastar and homemade wine woven on wooden looms for a few centuries, and then we went a little further to the village of Islamlar, which looks lush among the maquis, and we had a tea break at the coffee shop. In order to spend the night, we camped in the grassy garden among the greenery trees. Hidden Garden is actually a nice accommodation spot that offers bungolow services. We had dinner here all together. In the morning, we reached Akbel, which gives the atmosphere of a full settlement on the road where the sky blue appears occasionally from the density of trees, with our group in Zirve Mountaineering and Nature sports. Here, our road was divided into two, towards Patara, the ancient port city of Ancient Lycia, and the other towards Kalkan. I was dreaming of the beautiful golden beach in the photographs, Patara beach with a length of 18 km. The ancient waterway ruins on the chosen road is Delikkemer

Unexpectedly, an ancient architectural wall, huge scattered stones scattered to the right and left and pierced in the middle, and interlocking like a ring, appears before us, which is the 2000-year-old aqueduct known as Delikkemer. It was like they built it like a bridge.

"According to civil engineers, the water brought to Patara from the spring of Bodamya-Islamlar village, which is 689 m above sea level, from the spring of Delikkemer, which is a reverse siphon system, from the mountains and finally through the arch, with a passage of approximately 22.5 km, is located in the Çakallık region at 86 m altitude in the east of the settlement. The area is connected to a maxeme (distribution structure) and enters Patara's water distribution system.

It is learned from the inscriptions that the construction works started during the reign of the Emperor Claudius' Lycian State Governor Vilius Flaccus (48-50 AD), but it was the next governor Eprius Marcellus (50-55 AD) who completed the construction.

Leaving the Delikkemer behind, we continued to Tavas village and from there, through the wheat fields, finally reached the entrance gate of Patara, which is the majestic Arch of Victory.

We entered the capital of the Lycian Union. I saw ancient buildings that spread as much as the city of Ephesus, perhaps more magnificently. The parliament building that most impressed and surprised me was the phrase "it has been restored by the Turkish Grand National Assembly". If you climb all the steps up to the hill to the amphitheater on the side of the assembly building, a panoramic Patara beach and the Mediterranean will enchant you right in front of you.

When you continue towards the sea for 1.2 km from the ancient city of Patara, Patara Beach, where natural dunes form hills, is once used as a natural movie set in desert scenes. We traveled around the ancient city and the surrounding town in 2 hours and left after the weekend tiredness and returned with good memories.