• 09:00 Departure from the Hotel
• 09:25  Arrival and guided tour of Phaselis Ancient City with an English-speaking professional guide
• 11:00   Swimming in the gorgeous Mediterranean sea
• 12:30  Conclusion of our excursion, followed by the return trip to the hotel

Phaselis is not only a historically rich place to visit, but it’s also a beautiful national park to enjoy on a sunny day. Indeed, in the Tekirova district of Antalya, the ancient city of Phaselis is a true natural beauty, where historical ruins are waiting for you to discover under the shade of pine trees.

Phaselis was one of the most important cities of the Lycian League. The Roman ruins are well preserved and the three harbors of the ancient city are used as beaches today.

The word Phaselis means “the place protected by Gods” in Ancient Greek. Most of the ruins in Phaselis date back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Here are some of the different parts of the ancient city you will see.

Protection Walls: The walls surround the city from the sea to protect it from pirate attacks.

Aqueducts: The length of the aqueduct is about 450 m. The Aqueducts are the oldest structures that have survived until today in Phaselis.

Hadrian’s Arch: The harbor street connects the middle and south harbors. Hadrian’s Arch is located at the south entrance of the street. The fancy gate was built to welcome Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 131. Hadrian’s Arch’s support legs still remain in situ on the main street. There is a dedication inscription to Hadrian on the architrave blocks of the arch. There is also an agora next to the south harbor. Read our article about Hadrian’s Arch in Antalya

Roman Baths: There are two Roman bath complexes in Phaselis, one small and the other large. Both complexes date back to the 3rd century and used the hypocaust system.

Latrina: The Latrina is located to the north of the small bath and dates back to the 3rd century. Its floor is covered with mosaics

Theater: The small theater is characteristic of a typical Hellenistic Period theater. From the remains its possible to tell that the stage building was added during the Roman period. The Hellenistic theater dates back to the 2nd century, although there is a large possibility that there was a theater here before this. It has the capacity to hold about 1,500 spectators.

Basilica: Opposite the theater, you can see the remains of a small basilica that dates back to the Byzantine period. It’s controversial whether the basilica here was a congregation or an episcopal church.

Acropolis: The main goddess of the city was Athena, the Goddess of War and Wisdom. The Temple of Athena and some other important structures that have not been found yet are considered to be located on the Acropolis hill today.

Phaselis Beach: There are 3 different bays: the North Bay, the Ancient Bay, and the South Bay. The three beaches here were used as ports in ancient times.

If you dive, you can see the remains under the water. Make sure to bring a snorkel and mask when packing for Phaselis.

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Phytochemical Society of Europe and the Organizing Committee, we are delighted to invite you to join the conference on ‘Natural drug discovery: Current approach and future perspectives’, which will be held in Antalya, Turkey, 12-15 October 2023.

The conference’s main objective is to bring natural product and food scientists together to share the most recent research findings, concepts, and experiences.

The congress will focus on all main topics of natural products research:   Isolation and structure elucidation; omics-based approaches; ethnopharmacology and phytotherapy; biosynthesis and biotechnology of secondary metabolites; production, quality and regulatory aspects of herbal preparations, food supplements as well as functional foods; natural products in veterinary medicine, cosmetic and food area.

Antalya is one of the world’s foremost tourist destinations where mountains and sea meet each other. The city has many well-preserved historical sites and ancient settlements dating back thousands of years. There is history, natural beauty, and a rich variety of local lifestyles to be discovered.

We warmly invite you to this exciting conference. Please join us and have a great time in Antalya!

Professor Didem Şöhretoğlu
Chair of conference

Natural drug discovery: Current approach and future perspectives
Guest editors: Didem Şöhretoğlu
Submission deadline: 15 June 2024

This special issue is related to the conference: “PSE Meeting 2023: Natural drug discovery: Current approach and future perspectives”.

It will be held on 12-15 October 2023, at Sherwood Exclusive Kemer Hotel, Antalya, Türkiye

Guest editors:

Didem Şöhretoğlu, PhD
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
(Pharmacognosy, structure elucidation, enzyme inhibition)

“Writing and publishing papers – the 6 Ps – prior preparation prevents pointlessly poor performance”

Prof. Simon Gibbons (Editor in chief- Phytochemistry Letters)
Prof. Satya Sarker  (Editor in chief- Phytochemical Analysis)
Prof. Francisco Macias (Editor in chief- Phytochemistry Reviews)