Kekova Sunken City & Simena Castle (Kaleköy)

Stretching along the uninhabited northern shores of Kekova Island near Demre, the Sunken City of Kekova (Batık Şehir) is one of the Mediterranean’s most romantic archaeological mysteries. In the 2nd century AD, catastrophic earthquakes fractured and submerged this thriving ancient Lycian maritime trading settlement beneath the translucent azure sea. Gliding over the calm waters aboard a glass-bottom boat or sea kayak, travelers clearly see partially submerged stone foundations, ancient residential walls, quays, public staircases that lead directly down into the water, and broken amphorae resting in shallow bays. Directly across the channel on the mainland lies car-free Kaleköy (ancient Simena), crowned by a rugged Byzantine castle housing the smallest rock-cut theatre in the ancient world, surrounded by centuries-old Lycian sarcophagi rising like stone sentinels directly out of the shallow water.