In 1840, using Greek inscriptions that were difficult to read, the English explorer and archaeologist Charles Fellows considered the city to be located near the village of Saaret.

[5] Jan Zahle's analysis of the distribution and nature of Lycian tombs concludes that during the classical period, Phellos, Limyra and Patara were cities that ranked just below Xanthos in importance.

[6] During the 5th century, members of the Xanthian royal family resided there, and so the city at one time played a central political role.

Other ruins include house-tombs and other small tombs of various states of preservation, a semi-circular wall, and a rock-wall with a relief of a bull.

another depicts a warrior, but partly destroyed by a large hole broken into the tomb, and on the lid are a pair of griffins and two figures.

[17] Spratt journeyed to the small farming village of Saaret north of Antiphellus,[18] accompanied by Panayotis, the same guide Fellows had used to discover the settlement.

[23]Spratt's findings were first challenged in 1892, when the German-Austrian archaeologist Otto Benndorf determined that Phellus was located on the coast across the bay from Antiphellus.

[24] Phellus has been intensively surveyed, but is one of a number of Lycian sites where a lack of archaeological evidence prevents it from being classified as a town comparable in size to Xanthus.

[25] Subsequent building activity has meant that few architectural details can now be identified, and the social and economic structure of the city has not been determined.