Hatunsaray
From Lycaonia to the present

One place,
thousands of years of memory.

Hatunsaray is a living cultural landscape shaped by Lystra's layered past, a rural life formed around water, and the quiet rhythm of the Anatolian steppe.

Discover Hatunsaray

Image 1 is displayed.

Three narratives, one landscape

Explore Hatunsaray layer by layer.

This website is neither an archaeological excavation body nor a record of academic fieldwork. It presents the known cultural values of Hatunsaray and its surroundings in a clear, measured, and interpretive manner.

Original illustration interpreting rural life in Hatunsaray 01 · PLACE

A living settlement on the plain

Hatunsaray, shaped by geography, production, water, and everyday life.

Explore Hatunsaray Original illustration interpreting the ancient settlement of Lystra 02 · MEMORY

The layers of Lystra

Traces extending from the mound settlement and Roman colony through Late Antiquity to the present.

Explore Lystra Original illustration interpreting Hatunsaray's cultural landscape 03 · HERITAGE

Traces of water and labour

Fountains, bridges, farmland, and knowledge of place passed from one generation to the next.

Explore the living heritage
One landscape, many traces

Journey through Hatunsaray's visual memory.

Hatunsaray's water structures, gardens, and settlement fabric
01Living HatunsarayWater, gardens, and the memory of settlement
Kilistra's historic rock-cut spaces
02Traces carved into rockKilistra's natural and cultural setting
Illustration depicting the multi-layered settlement of Lystra
03The layers of LystraA long memory of settlement
Historical scene interpreting the account of Saint Paul at Lystra
04A narrative from antiquityThe memory of Paul and Lystra
Hatunsaray's agricultural landscape and water heritage
05Traces of water and labourRoads, fields, and living heritage
The Hatunsaray plain and surrounding high ground at dawn
06The quiet rhythm of the plainA broad view of Hatunsaray's geography
Original route illustration showing Lystra's regional setting
07Where routes convergeLystra's regional setting

Image 3 is displayed: The layers of Lystra.

Interpretive illustration showing Lystra's layered settlement
Lystra / Zoldura Mound

Beneath the soil lies not a single age, but a long memory of settlement.

Lystra is not limited to Roman and early Christian history. Surface finds point to a sequence of life on the mound reaching back to earlier periods. The site should therefore be understood not through a single structure or story, but as a whole formed by successive layers of occupation.

Discover Lystra
Illustration of life in Hatunsaray, with a fountain, bridge, and gardens
Living culture

Heritage is not found only beneath the soil.

The water structures, rural roads, farmland, and settlement fabric around Hatunsaray reveal the links between the past and everyday life. Cultural heritage encompasses not only the stone monuments that require protection, but also the setting and memory that give them meaning.

The story of a place becomes complete when its stone, water, soil, and human memory are read together.

Original landscape illustration for the Hatunsaray cultural route
Look slowly, explore with care

See Hatunsaray as a whole.

Consider the settlement fabric, water structures, agricultural landscape, and Lystra mound as parts of the same cultural landscape.

View the visitor guide
Original illustration interpreting the settlement layers of Zoldura Mound
01Memory of the earth

The earth preserves; time tells the story.

Zoldura Mound is a multi-layered settlement identified with ancient Lystra; traces in the earth and historical narratives together carry the city's long memory.

Discover!
Original illustration interpreting the historical journey to Lystra
02The journey's trace

Hatunsaray · Lystra.