Archaeology in Cilicia in the ancient travellers’ notes

A very limited number of European travellers had the opportunity to visit Cilicia before the beginning of the 20th century, because of its remote location, its difficult political situation and to the unhealthy climate of many areas. The travel itineraries were generally limited to the coasts or to the valleys of the Kalykadnos and the Cilician Gates. However the abundance of ancient monuments was a great attractive for the scholars. After the very first travellers who visited the region (Wilbrandus de Oldenborg, Bertrandon de la Broquière and Giosafat Barbaro), the following authors' works (Otter, Beaufort, Irby and Mangles, de Laborde, Langlois, Barker, Collignon, Bent and Hicks, Heberdey and Wilhelm) are very important sources in order to get information on some ancient cities of Cilicia, mostly destroyed at the present times. Beaufort may be considered the first cartographer of Caramania. G. Bell, the first woman travelling in Cilicia (1905) after the princess of Belgiojoso, was mainly interested in Byzantine architecture. To better illustrate the extreme importance of the information available in the travellers' journeys, several cities have been selected and analysed carefully. Finally a general analysis of the single travellers' personalities and specific interests has been attempted.