Laertes was an ancient town of Cilicia. Some have supposed that the Greek philosopher Diogenes Laërtius was from this town, while the geographer Strabo called it a stronghold.
The site of the ancient city is located near Cebelires in Antalya, within the borders of the Gözüküçüklü village in the Alanya district.
Laertes is established in the Taurus Mountains, 25 kilometers east of Alanya, at the foot of a slope rising at a valley mouth. It sits at an altitude of 850 meters above sea level in a geography suited for defense.
Although situated in the interior, the town also possessed a harbor. The settlement lies within the region known in antiquity as Rugged Cilicia.
The remains surviving from the city largely belong to the Roman period. These archaeological traces include watchtowers, a semicircular seating unit used by the public for conversation in the agora, and the Street of the Emperors.
Architectural structures among the ruins also feature an odeon or theater, temples dedicated to Zeus, Apollo, and Caesar, an agora, a bath, and a necropolis.
Laertes experienced its most brilliant period from the 1st century AD to the 3rd century AD. A military diploma belonging to a soldier, discovered during excavations and exhibited at the Alanya Archaeological Museum, sheds light on past life.
Dating to 138 AD and mentioning the name of the Governor of Pamphylia, the document records that a Syrian soldier was discharged after 25 years of honorable service, receiving Roman citizenship and the right to marry a Pamphylian woman.
Found in a secondary context at Laertes, the 7th-century BC Cebelireis Mountain Inscription inscribed in the Phoenician language on three sides is also exhibited in the Alanya Archaeological Museum. This inscription is the sole example from the pre-Roman period among the finds of Laertes.
Today, the Laertes archaeological site can be visited free of charge.
Wikimedia research dossier · Last checked: 2026-09-15 04:49:57
