The ancient city of Termera is a prominent Early Iron Age settlement located on the western side of the Bodrum peninsula in ancient Caria. The city’s acropolis, known today as Asarlık, is situated near the modern village of Mandıra (Akçaalan), approximately 3 kilometers northeast of Aspat hill. The territory of Termera extended from the Asarlık hill down to the coast. The coastal alluvial area located to the west of Aspat hill (ancient Strobilos), which featured a narrow creek, served as Termera’s natural harbor during the Iron Age. Ancient geographer Strabo noted that the city was situated near the Termerion across from the Skandorion cape on Kos island, while Pliny placed it between Bargylia and Karyanda.
Termera was founded by the Lelegians, an indigenous population widely described in ancient texts as the ancestors of the Carians. The name of the city is first recorded in the Athenian Tribute Lists in 454/453 BCE. Evidence of the city’s naming and sovereignty is also well-documented by the discovery of 5th-century BCE silver coins, which bear the legend “TEPMEPIKON” on the reverse side.
Archaeological evidence indicates that Termera was the most significant settlement on the peninsula continuously from the Sub-Mycenaean and Early Iron Ages through the Middle and Late Iron Ages. During the early 5th century BCE, Termera was ruled by a local Carian dynasty, notably under Histiaeus, the son of Tymnes. The city enjoyed considerable prosperity and political importance during this period; it paid a high tribute of two and a half talents to Athens—higher than its neighboring cities—indicating its status as a wealthy and major settlement. However, Termera lost its political supremacy and fell into obscurity after Maussollos moved his capital to Halikarnassos in 367 BCE. By the Roman period, Pliny the Elder referred to Termera as a “civitas libera” (a free city).
The exploration of Termera began in the 19th century. C. T. Newton first surveyed the region in 1862-1863, initially identifying the Byzantine ruins at Aspat (Strobilos) as Termera. The first formal excavations were conducted by W. R. Paton in 1886-1887, focusing on the necropolis at Asarlık; Paton was instrumental in defining the site’s archaic remains as belonging to the indigenous Carian/Lelegian population rather than Dorian settlers. In the 1950s, G. E. Bean and J. M. Cook visited the site and correctly associated the Asarlık and Aspat areas with Termera. Extensive surface surveys of Lelegian settlements were later conducted by W. Radt in the 1970s. Most recently, comprehensive surface surveys and rescue excavations have been directed by Prof. Dr. Adnan Diler in 2011-2012, unearthing Late Bronze to Early Iron Age data that redefined the city’s exact localization and territorial boundaries.
Termera exhibits a classic Anatolian hill-top settlement model, characterized by robust fortifications and diverse burial grounds. The central citadel sits atop the Asarlık hill and was heavily fortified by both inner and outer city walls built using a semi-cyclopean and rough polygonal masonry technique. The main gate of the citadel features a monumental entrance with a triangular or pyramidal facade, reflecting ancient Anatolian, Hittite, and Mycenaean architectural traditions. Inside the citadel, the settlement housed domestic structures and a large rock-cut, plastered cistern at the highest point.
Termera is renowned for its extensive burial grounds spreading outward from the acropolis. The necropolises prominently feature platform tombs constructed from massive, roughly-cut andesite blocks. The site also features stone tumuli and rock-cut chamber tombs.
The wide territory connecting the acropolis to the harbor at Aspat is dotted with ancient agricultural terraces, olive oil presses, and boundary walls.
References:
Diler, A. 2017. “Early Iron Age Termera (Asarlık): Some Notes on the Lelegian Settlements and their Impacts on Karian Identity,” in Karia Arkhaia (La Carie, des origines à la période pré-hékatomnide – 14–16 November İstanbul 2013), eds. H. Olivier & K. Konuk, 507–546.
Diler, A., Ş. Gümüş, N. Seda Eryılmaz & M. Çur. 2014. “Bodrum Yarımadası Leleg Yerleşimleri, Adalar, Aspat (Strobilos), Kissebükü (Anastasioupolis), Damliboğaz (Hydai), Sedir Adası (Kedreai),” AST 31/2, 419–436.
Images:
Bora Bilgin, 2026
Tayfun Bilgin, 2026