The Vexed Question of Kalkan/Bezirgân and the Stadiasmus Patarensis: Some Corrections to the Course of the Road between Patara and Phellos

As the conclusion of our field surveys of 2009, we had claimed that the road leads from Patara to Phellos, via Akbel – Sarnıçbaşı – Uçova – Yayla Bezirgân – Sarıbelen/Sidek – Gökçeören/ Seyret – Yeniköy – Çukurbağ and Pınarbaşı. Our recent re-evaluations showed that this road should have followed a different course in several places around Patara, Kalkan, Yayla Bezirgân. This road starting from Patara first took a course across the mountainous sections to the east of Patara, not Kısık Pass, then it reached Sarnıçbaşı above Kalkan. From this point, the road for Phellos would not have climbed up to Yayla Bezirgân, which was most probably a lake/swamp in antiquity. The old road from Sarnıçbaşı/Kalkan leading up to Yayla Bezirgân in antiquity could go only to the north by the eastern slopes of Kışla Dağı /Köybaşı by the western banks of the Bezirgân lake/swamp, finally reaching Alacaışık Gediği, from where it could reach Milyas over Neisa, but never practical to reach Phellos. The road reaching Sarnıçbaşı from Patara continues in the direction of Sarıbelen/Sidek, passing the Kaputaş Fault in its northern sections and finally reaches Gökçeören/Seyret, as it was used by the caravans in late Ottoman period. After Gökçeören/Seyret, it most probably did not lead to the south and to Çağlarca/Mumuda, but it took a shorter course to Phellos passing across the plain to the northeast.