The British archaeologist Charles Fellows (1799-1860) travelled through southwestern Anatolia in 1838 and again in 1840, 1842 and 1843, discovering and exploring a number of ancient Lycian cities, most notably Xanthos, which he described as "my favourite city", and from where he later took artefacts, including the surviving parts of the famous Nereid Monument, for the British Museum (see Museum boom part 1 at The Cheshire Cat Blog). He mentioned Kastellorizo as an "important island" and its proximity to Antiphellos (Kaş) in the journal of his first journey:

"April 18th. This morning we continued the ascent for two hours, and, after passing some richly wooded ravines, we rapidly descended upon the singularly beautiful but wild and barren neighbourhood of Antiphellus, an active little trading harbour for firewood, containing two or three houses for official persons, and one or two boats to communicate with the important island of Castellorizzo, a few miles from the shore. The ancient town of Antiphellus stood on a finely situated promontory, which still presents a theatre, foundations of temples, and other buildings; but the chief objects of interest in the place are the tombs, which are very numerous, and of the largest kind that I have seen."

Charles Fellows, A journal written during an excursion in Asia Minor, 1838, page 219. John Murray, London, 1839. At the Internet Archive.

On his second journey, made under the auspices of the British Museum, he was accompanied by the artist George Scharf (1820-1895), who later became the director of the National Portrait Gallery, London. In April 1840 they rode to Antiphellos, and on the 24th sailed over to Kastellorizo.

Like many travellers before and since, Fellows, as he admitted himself, carried his prejudices with his luggage, but seems to have enjoyed his short visit to the island, and expressed admiration for the Greeks who lived there, "such an intelligent-looking assemblage of people, both male and female". He described the port itself as a thriving and growing town, while at that time Antiphellos consisted of "only three or four houses and a custom-house".

The fact that Fellows and Scharf had to sail to Kastellorizo to buy supplies underlines its importance to the local economy at the time, and indicates how remote the farming villages of mainland Lycia were, and in some respects still are today, even though Kaş now has much more to offer shoppers than the island. This role reversal has only occurred over the last twenty years, as Kaş has grown from a sleepy village into the area's largest tourist resort.

The sketches above and below, made during their visit to the island, appear in Fellows' journal of his second journey. He kept sketchbooks of his journeys, and wrote that he made the drawings illustrating the text of the first journal. However, he did not make clear whether these particular sketches were drawn by him or were by Scharf, who he had engaged as an artist to record the voyage. [9]

Fellows' journal entry, written in Antiphellos on 25th April 1840, the day after his visit to the island:

"Yesterday we went to the island of Kastelorizo, to lay in stores and to refit ourselves with supplies; the distance may be five or six miles from the shore. The town – for it really deserves the name – consists probably of six or eight hundred houses, all built upon one model, being formed like cubes, with two or three open square windows in the front of each, and a door at the back. These are built up the side of a steep rock, and, viewed together, are more singular-looking than picturesque. An old castle of the middle ages crowns the rock, and gives a character to the city.

On landing in this island, the effect was that of visiting a new country: hundreds of Greeks were crowding about the little quay and coffee-houses; wine was being retailed from the cask in the dirty narrow streets; scarcely a dog was to be seen, and pigs supplied their place. We were told that there were five Turks only in the town, the whole population being Greek. A number of small vessels filled the harbour; boats were building, houses rising rapidly, and the whole population seemed active and enterprising: it is quite delightful to see such an intelligent-looking assemblage of people, both male and female, in this busy scene; but a host of pure and simple feelings pass from the mind, and are succeeded by caution and worldliness, which are seldom sufficient to compete with the cunning of the Greek.

This is a metropolis of trade for the whole of the south-western coast: all provisions, and even coins and treasures of every kind discovered by the peasants, find a ready market here. I have obtained several coins, just brought from the valley of the Xanthus, and also saw some singular gems, but the devices were probably more illustrative of the whims of their former owners than of history.

The island of Kastelorizo, which was the ancient Megiste, is perfectly barren of natural supplies; even the water for the use of the town is collected in large tanks, about a mile up the mountain, whence it is carried by the women, who are continually passing and repassing in most classic groups, with pitchers slung over their shoulders.

The jewelry of these people is particularly interesting, being precisely the same as that seen upon the statues of the ancients. I wished much to purchase a bracelet or armlet, but could not obtain any; they are handed down as heir-looms, and, should an additional one be required, it is made expressly from these models, but they are never kept for sale: by this mode the pattern is perpetuated, and I feel certain that we here see the models of the ornaments of the ancient Greeks: several of these are often seen worn on the same arm, serving as the quartering in an heraldic shield, to register the families centered in the living heiress.

The jewels, or rather gold ornaments, are often thus accumulated to a great value; some of the people we saw with their savings'-bank, if I may use the expression, around their necks, in twenty or forty piastre-pieces of modern Turkish gold – some chains containing the current value of above a hundred pounds. But the characteristic ornament of the peasantry of this island is a row of large fibulae or broaches, of chased silver, three inches in diameter, placed one below the other, from the throat to the waist, which is very low; the rest of the dress is, as I have before described, purely classic in all its forms.

Leaving the path which leads to the fountains, we ascended the heights above the town, to seek the ruins of the city of the early inhabitants of Megiste: some fine Cyclopean walls scattered about the top point out the site, but no further remains are to be traced.

A brisk gale carried us back in less than an hour to our abode at Antiphellus, or, as the little Scala is now called by the Turks, Andiffelo. It consists of only three or four houses and a custom-house."

Charles Fellows, An account of discoveries in Lycia, being a journal kept during a second excursion in Asia Minor, pages 187-190. John Murray, London, 1841. At the Internet Archive.

Ahmed Muhyiddin Piri Bey (or Hacı Ahmet Muhittin Piri Bey; circa 1467-1554), better known as Piri Reis (Admiral Piri), was an Ottoman Turkish admiral and cartographer, born either in Karaman in Southern Anatolia (the birthplace of his father; see below), or Gelibolu (Gallipoli), Turkish Thrace, in the Dardanelles. He was in active service as a captain then admiral of the Ottoman navy, around Spain, North Africa and Egypt, in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, as well as around the coast of Arabia, from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf.

The two main editions of his Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of maritime matters, also referrred to as Book of navigation) were completed in 1521 (927 AH) and 1525 (932 AH), although there are a number of different versions, including those produced after his death. He dedicated the second edition to Sultan Süleyman I the Magnificent. The books contains navigational instructions and several maps of specific areas and harbours around the Mediterranean Sea. Some copies of the second edition also included charts of the Black Sea, Arabia and world maps. In 1513 Piri Reis had also made a world map which is the oldest surviving map to show the Americas. He wrote that much of his information was taken from works by ancient and contemporary map makers, and even claimed to have used a map from the age of Alexander the Great, although it is thought more likely that he used a map based on geographical coordinates in the Geographia of the Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy (Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος, circa 100-170 AD), which had been translated into Arabic in the 9th century.

His maps are beautifully drawn, with vivid colours and clear calligraphy, and include topographical hints such as hills, mountains, buildings and sometimes entire cities, although some of these appear works of imagination rather than historical depictions. Each is a outstanding work of art with something of the traditions of Persian and Turkish miniatures and book illumination. Given the conditions and technology of the time, they are appear remarkably accurate. The coastlines of Kastellorizo, the other islands and the Lycian coast are clearly recognizable. Unfortunately, I have not yet found transcriptions or translations of the names or other text, written in Turkish in Arabic script, which these days only a relatively small number of scholars can read.

The map above is taken from the copy of the book in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. Walters manuscript W.658, based on the later expanded version, with around 240 maps and portolan charts, including a world map with the outline of the Americas. The museum has generously put the maps online, including a PDF version of the entire book. The locations on some of the maps, including this one, are subtitled as "unidentified".

This section of the map shows the Lycian coast, between Rhodes in the west and "Satalia" (Antalya) to the east. I have highlighted "I. Castello Rosso" and "Chelidonian" [see note 8] in yellow. Several of the speculative identifications of ancient locations by Pococke and his scholarly contemporaries were later proved to be inaccurate. For example, the River Xanthus and Patera are shown to the east of Kastellorizo, but are actually northwest of the island.

Source: Richard Pococke, A Description of the East and some other countries, Volume 2, Part II, Observations on the islands of the Archipelago, Asia Minor, Thrace, Greece, and some other Parts of Europe, Book II, chapter I, opposite page 33. Printed for Pococke by W. Bowyer, London, 1745. At the Internet Archive.

Joseph Roux was from a family of hydrographers and marine painters specializing in paintings of ships, from Marseilles. He also manufactured and sold navigating instruments and nautical equipment, and published a variety of charts. The charts seem crude and clumsily drawn, and the style belongs to an earlier age of simple woodcuts, but they nevertheless appear to have proved useful to navigators since were reprinted a number of times over several generations, and were still in use during the Napoleonic Wars. Roux was appointed Hydrographe du Roi (Hydrographer to the King), and he dedicated the collection of charts from which this map was taken to "Monsieur Duc de Choiseul, Ministre del la Guerre et de la Marine", indicating that they were of great importance to the French navy. Such maps were produced, then as now, not only as aids to sailors, travellers and scholars, but also as essential tools of military intelligence.

In this map, Kastellorizo's two northern harbours are shown, and the water depths and anchorage points are marked, as well as the Knights' Castle and other buildings. The island of Ro, to the west, is marked as "I. S Georgio" (Isle of Saint George), and Stroggyli, to the east, as "I. des Gouzens".

The mainland is marked "Caraminia" (Karaminia), the unofficial name given by Europeans in the 18th-19th centuries to the entire southwestern and southern coast of Anatolia on the Mediterranean (south of the Aegean), taken from the Ottoman Karaman Eyalet (province), around the town of Karaman (ancient Laranda, Λάρανδα), on the south coast. Three harbours are shown, from west to east: Pt. Vaty (Port Vathy, today Kaş), Pt. Longue and Pt. Senede.

Karaman may have been the birthplace of the Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis (see above).

Source: Joseph Roux, Joseph Roux, Receuil des principaux plans, des ports, et rades de la Mer Mediterranée. Estraits de ma carte en douze feuilles (Compilation of the principal plans of the ports and harbours of the Mediterranean Sea. Extracts from my map in twelve sheets), Planche 167. Marseilles, 1764. At Googlebooks.

In 1811-1812 Captain Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), British Royal Navy officer and hydrographer made a survey of the coast of Lycia (the area then generally referred to by Europeans as Karamania) for the British Admiralty, aboard HMS Frederikssteen, a 32-gun frigate which had been stationed in the Greek islands. [10] The survey provided data for maps and nautical charts of the area, and presumably a deal of intelligence for the British military about a region until then seldom visited or explored by westerners. In 1817 Beaufort published an account of his voyage, concentrating mainly on the ancient remains he and his crew encountered during their voyage along the coast.

"From thence we proceeded along a high, rugged shore; and after examining several barren islands, the ship anchored off the harbour and town of Kastelorizo, on the eastern side of a large rocky island of that name. The harbour, though small, is snug; merchant ships of any size can moor within a hundred yards of the houses; and on the other side, they may even lie so close to the shore as to reach it on a plank.

Two old castles command the town, the harbour, and the outer anchorage; but in a former war they were taken by the Russians, and almost destroyed. From the uppermost, which stands on a picturesque cliff, the muzzles of a few small cannon still project; but the Turks, to conceal its weakness, allow no strangers to enter. On the summit of the island, which is about eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, there is another small ruined fortress, which from its situation must have been impregnable. Vertot says, that the knights of Rhodes kept possession of this island for a long time; these castles and fortifications, which appear to have the character of the European architecture of the middle ages, may have been their work.

The island of Kastelorizo produces absolutely nothing; meat, fruit, corn, and vegetables, all come from the continent, which, though barren, and devoid of culture in its external appearance, contains inland, it is said, many spacious and productive vallies. It, therefore, requires some time for a ship to procure a supply of provisions, and especially of live stock. A small bullock of about three cwt. [11] cost eight dollars: and brinjoes (Solanum Melongena), grapes, water-melons, and pumkins, were proportionably cheap.

Water is scarce on this part of the coast: from the valley of Patara to the river of Myra, an uninterrupted range of mountains, abruptly rising from the sea, forbids the passage of any stream: the winter torrents cease with the rains; and from April to November, the inhabitants have no resource but in the capacity of their reservoirs. In summer, therefore, ships are very reluctantly allowed to fill their water-casks.

The town is principally inhabited by Greeks, but under the government of a Turkish Agha,* who is dependant on the Bey of Rhodes. Pilots may generally be met with here, for vessels bound to any part of this coast, or to Syria, and even to Egypt; for Alexandria being supplied, in a great measure, with fuel from the woody mountains of Karamania, there is a constant intercourse between that place and this little port.

From the gulf of Makry to Cape Khelidonia, the sea-shore is composed of a white limestone; but in this island an ochry drip, exuding from between the strata, gives a reddish tinge to the cliffs. From this circumstance it probably acquired the Italian name of Castelrosso; and it is not impossible that the present name Kastelorizo, which has no signification in modern Greek, or Turkish, may be derived from thence; for we find that many sea terms, as well as names of places, have been adopted from European sailors. However that may be, it is now called and written as above; and it appeared to me more judicious to retain the vernacular names, wherever they could be distinctly ascertained, than to adopt those applied by other foreigners. The custom of inventing new names is still more pernicious to the true interests of geography.

This island was undoubtedly the Megisté of Livy, Pliny, and Ptolemy. For by comparing the three passages of the former historian, where that name occurs (Livy, Book 37, 22, 24, 45); we learn that Megiste had a harbour; that it was to the eastward of Patara; and that it was not far distant from that city. From the two latter (Pliny, Book 5, chapter 31; Ptolemy Geog. in Lycia), it appears that it was an island, and to the westward of the sacred promontory. All these circumstances will apply to the island of Kastelorizo, and to no other place. The name Megisté is in itself almost conclusive, for Kastelorizo is by far the largest island of Lycia. It is singular that Strabo does not mention Megisté; but as he gives the name of Cisthené (Strabo, in Lycia), to the most considerable of the Lycian islands, we may safely infer that Kastelorizo was likewise the Cisthené of that geographer.

Kastelorizo forms the west side of a gulf which is crowded with small islands and rocks; and which communicates with two capacious harbours, Sevedo and Vathy [12]. The former has almost every good quality that can be desired ; and a tongue of rock projects from the head of the harbour, forming a natural pier, with sufficient depth of water for a ship of the line to heave down.

In the limestone cliffs, that rise from Port Sevedo, there are several sepulchres, or catacombs, hollowed out of the rock; they contain numerous cells, and were originally closed with stone doors: many sarcophagi are also scattered on the side of the hill. There are no remains of any buildings worth noticing, except a square column standing on the top of a neighbouring mountain; but no inscription was found on it to reveal its origin.

Port Vathy, though very long, and well sheltered, is too narrow and too deep to be a commodious harbour. The high mountain that rises from its northern shore, contains many of the excavated sepulchres mentioned at Sevedo; and on the elevated neck of land that separates it from the gulf, there are remains of considerable buildings. Amongst others, a theatre, with twenty-six rows of seats; rudely built in comparison with that of Patara, but beautifully placed with its front to the sea, and commanding a view of the little archipelago of islands, that dapple the surface of the bay. In a small temple a tesselated pavement was found, but coarse, and without much design; the squares are about half an inch in diameter, black, white, and red; the two former of which are stone, and the latter brick. In the neighbourhood of these buildings are several circular pits; the stucco on the sides and bottoms is perfect, but the tops or coverings have fallen in; they seem to have been either cisterns for water, or perhaps reservoirs for grain. The shore is here faced with masonry, which appears to have supported a terrace, or avenue, extending about half a mile along the margin of the bay, and connecting the theatre and the other public buildings with the town.

Traces of this town may be observed near a small artificial harbour, formed by one of those ancient piers, the remains of which are so numerous in the Levant.

Groups of sarcophagi surround this place; some plain, others ornamented, and generally bearing inscriptions. These inscriptions, and those on the stone doors of the sepulchres, appear, from the rudeness of their execution, to be very antient. Intermixed with the usual Greek letters, there are several uncommon characters, of which the following are specimens.

A few of these sarcophagi have two chambers, one over the other; perhaps for the purpose of receiving two bodies; or one might have been the Soros, to contain the funeral vessels.

This little port is the landing place for boats from the island of Kastelorizo; there is consequently the usual appendage of a coffee-house, to which, and a few huts, the inhabitants give the name of Antiphilo: the similarity of the names affords a strong presumption that this was the Antiphellus of Strabo."

* An Agha is a magistrate, or governor; his district is called an Aghalik. A petty Agha generally holds his government for a year only, at the expiration of which he is removed to another, if he can purchase it; for every employment in the empire is purchased.
 
Source: Francis Beaufort, Karamania (or a brief description of the south coast of Asia-Minor and of the remains of antiquity: with plans, views, etc.; collected during a survey of that coast, under the orders of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in the years 1811 & 1812), pages 7-16. R. Hunter, London, 1817. At Heidelberg University Digital Library.

The Cornish gentleman John Carne (1789-1844) set out from England on 26th March 1821 for Constantinople, and visited Greece, the Levant, Palestine and Egypt. Following his return home a number of books were published about his journey, including two volumes of the letters he wrote along the way and another of recollections of the voyage. [13] Frustratingly for some historians, his letters are not dated, and he did not mention the dates of the events described or stages of his journey. He also wrote short essays as commentaries to prints of scenic views of Greece (Kastellorizo, Rhodes and Syros), Turkey, the Levant and the Holy Land (Palestine) by a number of artists, including Bartlett, William Purser (1785-1856) and Thomas Allom (1804-1872). Syria, The Holy Land, Asia Minor... was published in two volumes, as "first series" and "second series", between 1836 and 1838.

The books are an interesting literary exercise, in that the author provided articles to accompany pre-existing individual images, rather than the more common practice of pictures chosen or commissioned to illustrate text. Most of the images are picturesque depictions of exotic places in the Romantic manner of the 19th century, rather passive landscapes and studies of architecture populated by natives in local costume. The texts provide impressions of the locations with a little geographical, historical and sociological background information. The aim of the works appears to have been to encourage travel to these places, which have "the glory and the brightness of a dream".

"... The sites of empires, awe-inspiring and memorable spots - interesting ruins of temples, tombs, and palaces - these, as they are seen here represented, hold forth no slight inducement to tourists of every class to make them the favourite field of their future wanderings and researches. Compared with every other, it may with truth be said that they impress the mind with all 'the glory and the brightness of a dream'; the sight of them awakens an enthusiasm felt in no other region of the earth; while the general desire to behold them is strengthened by the daily increasing facilities of communication, the various incentives to enterprise held out by science, by commerce, and by the gradual progress of European ideas and civilization, - insomuch that it may almost be averred, that all who read, or write, or travel, like the Artists who first trod this virgin ground, seem to have caught some rays of fresh enthusiasm from the beauty and sacredness of the scenes and recollections brought to mind."

The "Advertisement" (blurb) to the first series (volume 1).

Bartlett's view of Kastellorizo stands out among the other images for its dramatic depiction of the east side of the main harbour, apparently drawn from the sea during a storm. The position of the low sun behind the silhouette of the Knights' Castle indicates it was made in the early morning. The windows of the houses and other buildings are lit from within. The domed building on the waterfront, below and to the right of the castle, is presumably the 18th century Ottoman mosque (see gallery page 163), and the two tall, tower-like buildings directly above it are probably 18th century windmills, one of which is still standing (see gallery page 220). Several boats and ships are moored in the harbour, and in the background the craggy cliffs loom over the scene.

One wonders how the artist managed to capture this scene while standing or sitting on a boat tossed by waves and battered by the wind. Bartlett is known to have used a camera obscura and other devices to make his drawings, and to have prepared sepia-wash drawings especially for the engraver, at the same size as the finished print. One suspects a bit of arty trickery here: he may well have completed the work later specifically for publication, from a combination of memory and preparatory sketches, at least some of which perhaps made during calmer weather. He has certainly played with the perspective to make the castle and the cliffs appear loftier and more imposing. Compare it with photos of the same scene on gallery pages 17-21.

In the introduction to the first series, Carne wrote that "most of the places illustrated in this work had been visited by the writer...". Neither in his Letters nor the Recollections did he mention a visit to Kastellorizo, however, his description of the island is so detailed that it appears to be a genuine first-hand account. It is likely that he stopped here on his return sea voyage, between Cyprus and Rhodes, described in Volume 2 of his Letters.

Castelorizo, near Rhodes

"There is perhaps no navigation in the world so beautiful, varied, and ever-changing, as that of the Grecian archipelago. In his own hired bark, the traveller departs at sunrise from some favourite isle, where he has lingered a few days, and sees afar off in the horizon the hills and cliffs where he is to halt at the close of day; and on the right and left, as he cruises along with a fine breeze and brilliant atmosphere, are other isles, of wild or fantastic form, which tempt him sometimes to tarry, and try the hospitality of their homes, the flavour of their wines, the beauty of their scenery. The sea is sometimes peopled with the isles, and you pass slowly among them; and at sunset such a passage is delightful: the boats of the fishermen on the wave - their hamlets on the beach - the convent on the cliff.

The singular island and town of Castelorizo are situated not far from Macri, on the coast of Asia Minor: their appearance from the sea is wild and witch-like. The island is very arid and barren; an immense rock of a dull red hue, relieved by the blanched tints of some lighter cliffs, by a few olive gardens, and a little stunted vegetation: the latter generally surround a villa, of which even the red isle is not wholly destitute. Most of the provisions are brought from the continent of Asia Minor, and it is rather puzzling to divine whence, for it appears nearly as barren as the island itself.

Several vessels were on the stocks in the port. The servant landed, but could not contrive to bring off a loaf of bread. In stormy weather, when the wind is full on the opposite shore for a long time together, the inhabitants must suffer from scarcity. The vintage song, the shepherd's pipe, the sound of the wind in the grove, is not heard here, only the breakers' dash on the rocky beach. All around the island is what may be called a sponge-diving, which is the occupation of a great number of divers, who may be seen plunging from the rocks into the sea in quest of sponges, in which there is a considerable trade: they are sent to Rhodes and Smyrna.

The aspect of the town is poor; it is thinly peopled; the local attachment must be strong that can bind the islanders to their rock. Castelorizo would be a sea-beat dungeon to the traveller, who should be compelled by adverse weather to spend a few weeks there. Coffee may be had; but fruit, wine, bread, such as may enter civilized lips, fresh meat - all these are apocryphal luxuries: in an auspicious moment these may possibly be found, but rare indeed is their sojourn in the red isle. In some of the steepest streets, steps are cut out of the rock for an easier ascent; the streets are very narrow and winding, cleansed by the rains, that sweep down the rocky pavement all uncleanly and offensive things.

A castle, partly ruinous, stands on the summit of the cliff, several hundred feet above the sea: it was built by the Genoese; its massive walls and battlements have long been almost useless, though the Greeks, once more a nation, will probably put them again into a state of defence, for the isle might be made a strong fortified position.

The bold island-bearing of the Greeks is not visible among these people, who have more the air of captives; the consciousness of poverty and discomfort is in their look: the faces of the women look hard and sea-beat; there may be gentler and lovelier faces even in Castelorizo, but they were not visible in the streets. At noon-day, when the latter were deserted, and the inhabitants enjoying their siesta within doors, or in the shade of their houses, the place looked like a city of the dead, the feet of the traveller and his companions being almost the only ones heard on the precipitous streets.

A walk of an hour along the cliffs leads to the site of the ancient city, on one of the loftiest parts of the isle. The view from the summit of the hill was splendid; beneath lay the barren, rocky isle, with scarcely a tree to relieve its fierce cliffs, and beyond it the broad expanse of the Adalian gulf with its countless isles; and on either side were the mountain shores of Caramania. Of the ancient city, the circuit of the walls can still be traced, about two-thirds of a mile in circumference: a few cisterns and reservoirs yet remain, as well as numerous traces of the industry of the former people, in the steps cut on all sides to lead from one steep to another."
 
Source: John Carne, Syria, The Holy Land, Asia Minor, etc. Illustrated. In a series of views, drawn from nature by W. H. Bartlett, William Purser, etc, Second series (Volume 2), pages 58-59. Fisher, Son & Co., London, 1836-1838. At the Internet Archive.