European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes saturday october 3,1967 Tom Wicker old world Art belongs where it was created on the Road to a Coon which runs among conical stacks or drying sesame and the peaked wooden frames Over which turkish Farmers spread cover for Winter grown tomatoes travellers suddenly discover the ruins of an ancient Amphitheater rising from the White lipped rows of a Cotton held the Heater was built against a Hillside several Cen Turies before the birth of Christ. Bui rows of cot Ion arc now planted so close to what was once the stage area Hal the ruin seems almost out of place at the Edge of contemporary working farm. It in to in travellers quickly realize. In the Region Homer and Herodotus and Alexander the great Newas lycia the ancient world and the Modem As rep resented by the turkish Countryside today exist Side by Side with remarkably Little conflict. A Stone s throw Down the Hill from the ruins of Xanthos once the greatest City or the Region residents of the Village of Cinik play backgammon under the Trees. Few seem even to notice the historical wonders bordering their Fields the spectacular Rock Cut tombs of caucus some with ionic facades All carved into seemingly inaccessible Cliffs loom silently above visitors lunching on grilled Mullet at Riverside cafes inthe Village of Dalyan. This compatibility of old and new is one of the great attractions of Turkey s Mediterranean coast but it May not last much longer. Tourists in increasing numbers Are visiting then and the locals Are begin Ning to respond not All eagerly. At Kalkan a pleasant Jim Fain Hillside town that is the base for drives from the coast to Mcloon and Xanthos one merchant remarked rather sadly that the Charm of the place upon which a customer had commented would be lost to commercialism within three Yean. Still coastal villages like Simena situated in a Harbor of misty mountainous Beauty and above which stand the ruins of a byzantine fortress re main virtually unspoiled. At the simple but excellent restaurant Olive Halfway up the goal path climb to the fortress the wine is Cool but the hospitality is warm and personal. At Pinata where More Rock Cut tombs arc to be seen carved High into formidable Cliffs one party of five wandered with a guide for two hours without seeing anyone else. Nor was anyone even a guide or caretaker encountered at a Coon. Nearby at Patara in ancient times an important Mediterranean port St. Paul left it by ship on Hii Way to Rome a solitary guide led the Way to an Amphitheater overlooking a Valley that in fact is the silted Over Harbor of the old City. The silence of the theater itself parity lifted with Sand and the stillness of the Valley below invited visitors to imagine the great City that once thrived at their feet. Sadly for the non professional visitor Alt Loo Little remains at these Sites of vanished Ages. Even what s left of the old Walls of Xanthos combining the five sided stones of the lycian the rectangular blocks of roman Cut and the Stone and Concrete construction of the byzantine Era do not clearly define for the Modem visitor the extent and aspect of what clearly was a Beautiful City with extraordinary views Over the Valley of the River Xanthos. Exploration and excavation continue As recently Ashe 1960s, French archaeology uncovered at Xanthus what had been a byzantine Basilica built on the ruins of a roman Temple. Much obviously remains to be done to disclose the Long human history locked in these old stones and silent Hills but Little apparently i being done for Lack of direction and funds. Much of the record the ancients made of their own lives moreover has been removed to the British museum for example the War and Hunting scenes that in Relief decorated what was once the Beautiful sarcophagus of Palava in Xanthos the sarcophagus it self dating from the 4lh Century b.c., still stands defiantly atop its denuded pillar. But not far away Al that remains of the so called lion pillar is its toppled base even the carved sarcophagus that surmounted it was removed when 70-p of out  e Al Gavlina