It was built to defend the road from the coast to Xanthos, then the most important city in Lycia, and was well placed, being near to fresh water supplies and a safe landing area for shipping.

During the period when the fort was controlled by the Romans, it was mentioned in the 3rd century Stadiasmus Maris Magni, and listed by Ptolemy in his Geography.

The ruins, rediscovered by European archaeologists during the first half of the 19th century, consist of a complete circuit of walls, 11 towers and seven sets of steps that lead up to the battlements.

Situated close to a mountainous promontory, the location protected ships from the dangerously strong winds and currents of the Lycian coast.

In the late Roman period, Xanthos was connected to the shore by means of an important road that circumnavigated the swamp, the presence of which is indicated by a 3rd century military boundary stone in the nearby village of Karadere.

[5] On the basis of information provided by Beaufort, the ruins were discovered by the British explorer Charles Fellows, who was to lead archaeological expeditions to Lycia in 1838, 1839, 1841, and 1844.

[21] The fort was described by the explorers Edward Forbes and Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt in the same decade:[2] From the theatre we rode across a very flat marshy plain, to a short but deep and sluggish stream, called the Uzlan river, which, like many of the streams of the lower part of Lycia, springs full grown out of the base of the mountains.

Within this fine fortress are the remains of a Christian church.The English lexicographer William Smith suggested in 1870 that the settlement was referred to by Ptolemy as Cydna, who placed it at the foot of Mount Cragus.

They recorded that the fortress had one entrance on the east side and another on the north; the towers had doors, an upper floor accessible from the wall parapet, and loopholes.

The undergrowth made it difficult for them to explore the interior, and they found no remains of occupation, except the ruins of a church in the east corner.

[14] The Lycian Way, a 540 kilometres (340 mi) way-marked footpath around the coast of Lycia from Fethiye to Antalya, passes through the two entrances to Pydnae.