African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 5 (7), pp. 468-475, 4 April, 2010 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR09.017 ISSN 1991-637X © 2010 Academic Journals Review Coastal landscapes and conservation issues: Antalya- Phaselis Elmas Erdogan 1 and Nazan Kuter 2 1 Ankara University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Landscape Architecture, Diskapi, 06110, Ankara, Turkey. 2 Cankiri Karatekin University, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Landscape Architecture, 18200, Cankiri, Turkey. Accepted 04 March, 2010 Phaselis is an antique settlement situated on the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey on the way to Antalya coastal highway, 35 km. far from Antalya. It was one of the most important antique cities of Pamphylia founded over a peninsula that narrowed into bays to the north and south. Phaselis was a city of natural harbors founded by the colonists from Rhodes in the 6 th century B.C. It had three harbors one on the north, one on the northeast and one on the southwest side of the peninsula. Phaselis is an archeological site near the Mediterranean coast and the ruins of the city are partially under the sea and partially covered with vegetation that can be considered among the most picturesque ancient remains of Turkey. The buildings still visible on the site are mainly concentrated on the neck of the peninsula between the north eastern and south western harbors. Historic archeological sources above and below the ground and sea level are important cultural heritages that has to be transferred to future generations as the evidences of past cultures. Coastal landscape quality of Mediterranean Region of Turkey is very rich. There are numerous significant resources as rare survivors of archeological sites reflecting the cultural traditions and patterns of settlements having local, regional and national importance. So, archeological resources must be protected and preserved in place in order to protect the original characters of the historic sites and their near environs. So, the conservation of archeological sites under the sea and the coastal areas should be held more sensitively. In this article, Phaselis antique settlement which is a unique and distinguished example in the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey was presented with its natural and cultural values. Then, the concepts of coastal archeology, coastal landscapes and their conservation issues were discussed and at the final stage, the problems and potentials of Phaselis archeological site were evaluated. Besides, conservation issues of coastal archeological sites were discussed with special reference to Phaselis. Key words: Phaselis, coastal archeology, coastal landscape, landscape quality. INTRODUCTION One of the most interesting combinations of sea, history, culture and forest is seen in Phaselis (Figure 1). Along the road on the shore towards Antalya, there is an impor- tant antique settlement of Pamphylia established in 6th century B.C. by the Rhodian colonists during the reign of Lacuis. The city is on the trade-route between Greece and Syria and Paletsine and boasts of three natural harbors. However, as in other areas of the coasts of Anatolia, there were settlements here before the arrival *Corresponding author. E-mail: nkuter@karatekin.edu.tr. Tel: + 90 544 409 15 45. of Rhodian colonists (Aksit, 2001). At the beginning, the city was the part of Pamphylia but later joined to Lycia. Nowadays, the ruins of the antique settlement are lying between the harbors blended with nature. Part of the ruins is under the sea as a cultural source to culture and underwater diving tourism. The antique settlement had three harbors: one on the north, one on the northeast a done in the southwest side of the peninsula. The ruins of the buildings existing today are mainly concentrated between the northeastern and southwestern harbors on the neck of the peninsula. The harbors are connected to each other by means of a fine paved street beginning near the south western harbor where the gateway erected in honor of Hadrian