LETOON / KUMLUOVA

To the west of Xanthos-Creek Eşen located are the remains of the ancient city Letoon within the settlement Kumluova. The name of the city is “Ladauwa” in the Luwian/Etruscan original, meaning “worshipping place of the mother goddess Lada”. History of this sacred place dates back to thousands of years before Christ. The Mother Goddess Cult found everywhere in Anatolia unavoidably took root in Lycia, too.

It is understood that the cult, having been adapted to the area, took shape in the form of the trio Leto, Artemis, Apollon. Letoon which was established as a sanctuary in the Lycian Federation fell, like all the other Lycian cities, under the rule of the Persians in the 5th centry B.C., however, the Persians respected and did not damage this city. The sanctuar maintained its existence and functionality from Alexander to the Romans. The missionary activities during the early years of Christianity gave result with the propaganda of identifying the Mother Goddess Lada/Leto with the Holy Virgin and her son Apollon with Jesus Christ and thus, Christianity became spread throughout the area. Notwithstanding this, the sacred site of the pagan belief was preserved. The Arab raiders striving to spread Islam during the 7th century A.D., as soon as having landed on the shore, ruined Letoon, the target laid. One first encounters in the area the remains of three temples built alongside each other. The first one is the peripteral order temple Leto Temple, Ionic in style, and the adjacent one was built in association with a faith before Leto. The third temple known to belong to Leto’s children Apollon and Artemis was again built of peripteral order and its floor was paved with coloured mosaics. To the north of the sacred site is the theatre with 26 caveas visible. 16 masks were found at the southern entrance some of which belong to deities and some to mythological characters. Situated at the northern entrance is an interesting tomb. There is no sign of a stage building.