The site of Xanthos fully deserves its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its remarkable Lycian funerary monuments, tombs and sarcophagi, a well-preserved theatre, and a 4m-tall obelisk adorned with archaic inscriptions. In 167 BC, after many setbacks, Xanthos became the capital of the powerful Lycian Confederation. At that time, the Mediterranean, which now provides an attractive backdrop to the site, came right up to the city's ramparts.