This is the oldest and the largest city of the mountain province of Lycia, settled in the valley of the Xanthos river. Until the Persian invasion it was an independent state. When the people of Xanthos,who had bravely tried to defend their city, realized that they could not repulse the invasion, they first killed their women committed mass suicide by throwing themselves into the flames. About 80 surviving families and people who immigrated there rebuilt the city, but a fire which broke out about 100 years later razed it to the ground. In spite of this, the city was again rebuilt and, as a result of establishing good relations with the west, was considered as an important centre. However, Xanthos again met with an unfortunate end. As a result of resisting the taxes the Athenians wanted to impose on them in 429 B.C., the city was largely destroyed and the inhabitants were drawn into a war. And thus Xanthos became “a city of disasters”. The city itself consists of the Lycian acropolis and the parts remaining outside it, as well as the Roman acropolis. The most interesting building is the Roman theatre and the edifices of the theatre’s western shoreline. Of these the most famous is the Harpy Monument, which is a family sarcophagus situated on a rock. The original of this relief-decorated sarcophagus is in the British Museum, and a very good copy of this is in its place. Close by can be seen very interesting Lycian sarcophagi from the 6th and 1st centuries B.C.