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The ruins of Patara consist of the large Hadrian granary, the city's triumphal arch, a theater with a long inscription,
a 6th- or 7th-century Christian basilica, Lycian and Roman tombs, baths, and a temple to Apollo. One of the chief centers
of the worship of Apollo was here, as was the famous Oracle of Apollo. Patara was the flourishing port for the city of Xanthus,
some six miles up the Xanthus River. Xanthus was the ancient capital of the province of Lycia. While Xanthus was more heavily
populated, Patara perhaps covered more acreage. Homer speaks of the area as the home of one of the heroes of the Trojan War.
The port area has been erased by the shifting sands and the edge of the city is no longer immediately on the sea. In Paul's
time it appears it was good all-weather harbor.
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