OLYMPOS 2
OLYMPOS
Ancient Lycian City
Bishopric During Roman & Byzantine Eras.
Olympus became a Christian bishopric, a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Myra, the capital of the Roman province of Lycia. Its earliest recorded bishop was Saint Methodius of Olympus, whose service at the head of church in Olympus extended from the late 3rd century to his martyrdom in about 311. Aristocritus was at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Anatolius was a signatory of the joint letter that the bishops of Lycia sent in 458 to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian regarding the murder of Proterius of Alexandria. Ioannes took part in the synod convoked in 536 by Patriarch Menas of Constantinople. Pseudo-Epiphanius writes that the Metropolis of Myra had 36 cities and/or bishops under it, including Olympus.
No longer a residential bishopric, Olympus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.
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The necropolis church; Ä°t was damaged heavily during a 1969 flood (causing the main nave, apsis and southern nave to collapse). It can be dated to the 6th century, and was a columned basilica with three naves. An annex on the north seems to be of later construction.
Sarcophagus of Captain Eudemos
Near the entrance, is an impressive sarcophagus that belonged to a sea faring man called Captain Eudemos. Little is known about him but he achieved an important status in this region. There is a ship symbol on the front of the sarcophagus which represents the goddess Aphrodite who is believed to the Goddess that protect sailors. The inscription on the sarcophagus says;
“The ship sailed into harbor and anchored to leave no more,
As there was no longer any hope from the wind or daylight,
After the light carried by the dawn had left Captain Eudemos,
There buried the ship with a life as short as a day, like a broken wave.”
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Sarcophagus of Captain Eudemos.
Tomb of Lyciarch Marcus Aurelius Archepolis, (Below)
This is the monumental tomb of Lyciarch Marcus Aurelius Archepolis in the North Necropolis. It is dated to the second half of the 3rd century AD. There used to be a vault covering the tomb (collapsed) and three sarcophagi inside, one, the Sidamara sarcophagus, is now in the Antalya museum. A Lyciarch was one of the principal officials of the Lycian League: the Lyciarch and the archiereus.
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Sarcophagus of Antimachos,
The Sarcophagus of Antimachos is in the North Necropolis. The lid form is of Lycian type. The reliefs are carved on the chest. There is a pseudo-door on the short face of the chest, symbolizing a door to the underworld Hades. On the corner plaster a tree of life is carved, suggesting eternity. A notice indicates use of such a tree is very ancient (the 3rd millennium BC is mentioned), but in English speaks of a "family tree", a wrong translation as "hayat" is life. This sarcophagus is dated between the middle and last quarter of the 2nd century AD.
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