B + 2 : Sunken Lycian Towns

Today we are pushing further east towards the two partially sunken Lycian towns of Simena and Kekova - they were minor settlements but the harbour between the island of Simena and the mainland port of Kekova provided good shelter during stormy weather.

The underwater ruins attracted so much attention that they are now protected - nobody is allowed to visit them unless you take the official flat boat of the Tourist Bureau. I guess careless people even anchored there with their private boats! As a matter of fact there is not too much to be seen anymore. The harbour was flooded when the surface of the earth dropped due to an earthquake.

Kekova on the northern side of the channel and on the main land is in better shape. There is still a small fisher village standing on the site and the Acropolis was converted into a Crusader Castle in the Middle Ages. The harbour on this side of the channel lies about 2 meter below the water surface. It was clearly never used by Venetian Merchants since it was already destroyed by the time they ventured into this area.

View over the channel of Kekova - the modern harbour is built above the ancient port which stretched further to the right to the two small islands though

Just west to the town there is a big necropolis with many still intact Lycian sarcophagus. Unfortunately we could not find any table or description of the origin of these graves

Lycian sarcophagus