When exploring Olympos, you will see ruins of a theatre from the Roman period. The walls and towers around the bay date from the Middle Ages. An impressive Ionic temple in good condition dates from AD 2nd century, where a statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once stood.

By the 2nd century B.C., Olympos was one of the two most important eastern cities on the Lycian coast—often referred to as the pirate coast. In 78 B.C., Servilius Vatia mounted a campaign and cleaned up the pirate activities around Olympos (and added the city to Roman territory). During the Roman era, Olympos became famous for the cult of Hephaestus in nearby Çıralı, where natural gases keep a number of flames perpetually burning. Olympos had its most prosperous era in the 2nd century B.C.  After this golden age, pirates kept troubling the city. As a result of their attacks, the city’s wealth was lost, along with its significance.

Stones near the fire (where subterranean methane escapes) are flanked by the ruins of   temple to Vulcan. The ancients referred to the mountain as Chimaera, the name of a legendary fire-breathing monster in Lycia.  According to ancient myth, the Lycian hero Bellorophon, mounted on his winged horse Pegasus, slew the fire-breathing monster at night.

The settings at night are real attractive.