Ancient Lycian City of Kyaneai Guide

Cyaneae, also spelled Kyaneai or Cyanae, was a town of ancient Lycia, or perhaps three towns known collectively by that name. Leake observes that in some copies of Pliny the name is written Cyane, while in Hierocles and the Notitiae Episcopatuum it appears as Cyaneae.

According to Spratt and Forbes, Cyaneae was a city ranking in importance with Phellus and Candyba, yet found in a better state of preservation. Pausanias recorded that the oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus was situated there. No longer a residential bishopric, Cyanae is listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

Leake discovered its remains west of Andriaca, and the site at the head of Port Tristomo was confirmed by inscriptions. Spratt and Forbes noted that Cyaneae is located on the high tableland between Port Tristomo and the inland valley of Kassabar, identifying three ancient sites linked by inscriptions to the name.

It is singular that three distinct sites shared the plural name Cyaneae. At Tousa, a sarcophagus contained a feminine ethnic name, while a pedestal at Yarvu featured a Roman-period Greek inscription mentioning the local council and people. At Ghiouristan, similar inscriptions bearing the form of the city's name were discovered on sarcophagi.

Yarvu appears to be the chief place, situated due north of Port Tristomo on a high platform with steep descents on two sides. It features well-preserved walls between 5 and 15 feet high, a 165-foot-diameter theatre, plain rock tombs, groups of sarcophagi, and remains dating to Roman and medieval periods.

Tousa is a small site surrounded by a rudely constructed Hellenic wall combining polygonal and cyclopean styles, where a Lycian inscription was found. Ghiouristan, located further north, contains three Lycian rock tombs, including one with both a Lycian and Greek inscription, alongside numerous sarcophagi and tombs.

In the Notitia Episcopatuum of Pseudo-Epiphanius, written around 640 under Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, the bishopric of Cyanae ranked 15th among the suffragans of the metropolitan see of Myra. Today, the see is maintained by the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia as a titular position.

Located near the village of Yavu in Demre, Antalya, Kyaneai displays rock tombs, Lycian inscriptions, chamber tombs, and rock-hewn rooms in the acropolis, demonstrating that the settlement existed at least as early as the 4th century BC.