[1] Patara was referred to as Patar in Hittite texts: "King Tudhaliya IV (1236-1210 BC), after the Lukka expedition, came to this city with his army and made offerings."

In 88 BC, the city suffered siege by Mithridates VI, king of Pontus and was captured by Brutus and Cassius, during their campaign against Mark Antony and Augustus.

In the 5th century AD the city was reduced in size through the construction of a strong fortification wall adjoining the Bouleuterion using stone from the nearby structures.

[11] It was one of the four largest settlements in the Xanthos Valley and the only one open to the sea, situated 60 stadia to the southeast of the mouth of the river.

In 1993 the Stadiasmus Patarensis was unearthed, a monumental Roman pillar on which is inscribed in Greek a dedication to Claudius and an official announcement of roads being built by the governor, Quintus Veranius Nepos, in the province of Lycia et Pamphylia, giving place names and distances, essentially a monumental public itinerarium.

At the end of 2007, all the sand had been cleared from the theatre and some other buildings, and the columns on the main street had been partially re-erected (with facsimile capitals).

The site is a plain surrounded by hills and included in ancient times a large natural harbour, since silted up.

Northeast of the harbour is Tepecik Hill upon which there is a Bronze Age site and which was the acropolis on which the city was founded.

[10] The theatre was rebuilt under Antoninus Pius in 147 AD after an earthquake;[20] its diameter is 265 feet, and held about 6000 spectators.

[22] The lighthouse stood at the entrance to the major naval and trading port of Lycia, which had an outer and an inner harbour.

[23] Hadrian's Granary, so-named as it was built during his visit in 131 AD, lies on the side of the ancient harbour for storage of cereals and other goods to be shipped to Rome.

Parts of the site have been subject to illegal construction for agriculture, hotels and holiday villages despite legal protection, and destruction and vandalism are continuing problems.

The pipes were carved from marble blocks with internal diameter of 0.28 m, each weighing up to 900 kg, laid on top of a 200 m long, 10 m high wall across an 18 m deep valley.