The small beach resort of Ayaş lies due east of Kızkalesi and is home to the fairly extensive remains of Elaiussa Sebeste, an ancient double act with Elaiussa the older, olive-exporting sister to Sebeste which was founded in the first century by a king of Cappadocia in homage to the emperor Augustus.
As you approach from Kızkalesi you’ll see the inaccessible remains of what was once a huge Byzantine palace dating back to the sixth century right beside the beach. Here the military governor would have lived in some style amid colonnaded porticos and huge ceremonial halls. It was not a lifestyle that endured for long, however, since by the start of the seventh century the palace appears to have been abandoned.
A little further along the road the site of Elaiussa Sebeste has been sliced in half by the coast road. The most obvious remains are on the inland side of the road where archaeologists have uncovered a layer-cake of an ancient city.
The agora appears to have centred on a portico surrounding a circular building, but beneath that came to light a beautiful fish mosaic carpet that may have belonged to an earlier villa. Later a Christian basilica with apses at both ends was built on top of it, perhaps to house the remains of a long-forgotten martyr. The basilica appears to have been abandoned in the seventh century, after which craft workshops opened on the site. These too soon vanished, and in the 13th century most of the remaining structures appear to have come crashing down in an earthquake.
If you follow the road up the hillside, you’ll come to the remains of the theatre, a simple affair hacked straight out of the rock.
By the roadside you’ll see the huge remains of an old bathhouse. Cross over and walk through the field to see traces of twin harbours, and another bathhouse built right beside one of them to service the needs of visiting sailors. Sadly the ruins are fenced off from visitors but through the gate you’ll be able to see little limestone squares arranged diagonally on the façade of the baths, a pattern that was apparently common in Italy but rarely seen in Asia Minor.
On the outskirts of Ayaş beyond the cemetery as you head towards Kızkalesi there is a large Greco-Roman necropolis with some standing tombs as at Uzuncaburç and other graves cut straight into the rock.
Sleeping
The two most obvious bases from which to explore Elaiussa Sebeste are Mersin to the east and Kızkalesi to the west. Mersin is full of business hotels, Kızkalesi of hotels catering to the sun-and-sand brigade. Take your pick – but bear in mind that in season Kızkalesi is trying to reinvent itself as a mini-Marmaris while in winter it can resemble a ghost town.
Ayaş itself might make a passable alternative to either of them. A handful of small, simple motels – the Eftelya, Servet and Meltem – overlook the beach at Merdivenli Kuyu on the western side of town. The fish being served at the Servet Restaurant looked especially delicious.
Transport info
The quickest way to get here is to fly to Adana and then take a bus heading west to Kızkalesi.
Buses servicing the coast road between Mersin and Kızkalesi pass through Ayaş.
Day trip destinations
Narlıkuyu (Cennet Cehennem)
