According to a myth, Leto was drinking at a lake in Lycia whilst fleeing with her children Apollo and Artemis from the anger of the goddess Hera.

[2][note 1] The sanctity of the site is the purport of an anecdote related by the 2nd century Greek historian Appian concerning Mithridates VI of Pontus, who was planning to cut down the trees in the sacred grove for his own purposes during his siege of Patara, but was warned against this sacrilege in a nightmare.

[5] Archaeological finds at Letoon date to at least the 6th century BCE, and pre-date the Greek cultural hegemony in Lycia.

[7] The foundations of the three Hellenistic temples dedicated to Leto and her children have been excavated since 1962, under the successive direction of the French archaeologists Henri Metzger, Jacques Des Courtils and Emmanuel Laroche.

[2] The stele's inscription, dated to 337 BCE, features texts in the Lycian language, Ancient Greek and Aramaic.

[10] Letoon is located south of the village of Kumluova [tr] (previously known as Botisullu),[11] in the Fethiye district of Muğla Province, Turkey.

[2] Spring water used to emerge from the nymphaeum, flanked by a pair of exedras; of the remains, only those dating from the 3rd century are visible.

According to UNESCO, the archaeological sites at Xanthos and Letoon represent “the most unique extant architectural example of the ancient Lycian Civilization”.

The Turkish government has begun to control the surrounding environment and address issues relating to the preservation of the monuments, such as the management of visitors to the site, and to raise local awareness of its importance.