By Barry Neild, CNN

Alexander the Great tried to conquer Termessos but failed. Today, the incredible deserted ruins of this once-powerful city, perched like a fortified eagle’s nest high in the mountains of southwestern Turkey, can be conquered by anyone willing to make the hike up here. But few people ever do.

Termessos stands empty. A spectacular archeological jewel, preserved in isolation, seen only by a few handfuls of people who make the trip from the beach resorts of nearby tourism hot spot Antalya.

That’s a shame for those who miss out. For those who do get to explore, it’s a major bonus. They get to wander around one of Turkey’s most impressive ancient cities all by themselves. It’s a place of incredible atmosphere: history and landscape; views and silence; nature and destruction – all combining to create one of the Mediterranean’s great unsung archaeological wonders.

Here, slowly being swallowed by vegetation and worn down by time, are gigantic mausoleums, vast underground cisterns, temples, imposing city walls and a breathtaking theater perched, like Machu Picchu, on a hilltop that offers views stretching for miles all around.

Despite its emptiness, Termessos is easy to reach. It only takes around 45 minutes to drive from Antalya’s traffic-snarled downtown to the gates of Mount Güllük-Termessos National Park – a protected wildlife haven that surrounds the ruins. After paying a three-euro (about $3) gate fee at the park’s entrance, visitors then face another 10-minute ride further into the pine and gorse-clad hills along a switchback road that reaches about 1,000 meters above sea level.

Eventually the road emerges into what seems like an uninteresting parking lot with a public restroom. This was, in fact, at one time a giant agora, or marketplace for the city, which in its heyday 2,000 years ago would’ve been bustling with traders and citizens.

It’s here where the Termessos adventure begins. And it begins with death….

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/termessos-turkey-hidden-ancient-mountaintop-city/index.html

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