[2] In the 13th century BC, the Annals of Hattusili III mentions the city as a part of Lukka (Lycia) and conquered by the Hittites.

It was famed for its school of diviners, consulted among others by the Lydian king Croesus, prior to declaring war against Cyrus.

Telmessos was renamed Anastasiopolis in the 8th century AD, apparently in honour of Emperor Anastasios II, but this name did not persist.

Le Quien (Oriens christianus, I, 971) mentions two bishops of Telmessus: Hilary (370) and Zenodotus, at the Council of Chalcedon (451).

The current holder of the see, Archbishop Job, is primate of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, based in Paris.