National park
Mount Chimaera
Flame vents burning for millennia on a Lycian hillside, origin of the ancient Chimaera myth.
0:00≈ 2 min
Location
0:00≈ 2 min
About this audio guide
This guide to Mount Chimaera in Antalya follows the flames that sailors once used to navigate the Lycian coast at night, and the ancient myth of a fire-breathing monster that Homer wrote into the Iliad, said to have been born on this very hillside. It traces how ancient writers connected the legend to what burns here, and the temple to Hephaestus the Lycians built beneath the vents. Listen for what actually feeds these flames, and why smothering one only sends it somewhere else.
This audio guide was created using AI.