Turkey. Kekova Island

This island is one of the most visited sights of Turkey.
Like the ancient Atlantis, once prosperous ancient cities have gone here under the water.
But even today, unique ruins and fantastic nature attract many tourists here.

You can get to Kekova Island only by water.
On the site of the main port of ancient Lycia - Andranik and now there are walking katerki of the local artel.
We are loaded.

It's literally half an hour to the island.

Here it is, very close. With small islets in the neighborhood.
Under the pirate flag, by the way, the journey to Kekova is much more romantic.

Colleagues have already skated.
On the horizon is the Mediterranean Sea and somewhere far away in the south is the Egyptian Alexandria.

And to the north - Turkey and its plateau Teke with the characteristic slopes of the rocks of the continent.

There is little time to breathe the sea air and rejoice at the splashes of the warm sea in the middle of autumn.
Join now.

A little more and now you can admire the sea azure from the island of Kekova.
With vegetation here skudnovato ...

It was here that ancient Lycian masters built stone cities.
It is difficult to imagine, but at the beginning of the first millennium there were already one- and two-storey houses with a developed water disposal system.

At the site of these ruins once towered the ancient city of Dolihiste.
It was inhabited mostly by women and children, whose husbands and fathers served on the outpost island opposite.

If you look closely, you can see the sewage plums hollowed out in the rocks.

Stairs.

And even the entrance arches into the city buildings.
Attentive will see the cross on the crossbeam. Probably there was a Christian temple here.

The entire northern coast of the island is a continuous ruin.
Blame for all the strongest earthquakes, the last of which in the 7th century finally forced residents to relocate.

Almost all the buildings were destroyed, and the island was immersed in the water.

I hope, someday, technologies of augmented reality will be available here.
It will be cool when tourists through the screens of their 3D glasses will see all the beauty and richness of the ancient city.

In the meantime, we look through the water.
Surprisingly, since then the local breakwater-mooring of the local port has not even collapsed.

In the boat, a transparent bottom has been made prudently.
If you look closely, then through it you can see the remains of ancient ruins and earthenware.
Well, phones with cameras come across.
Underwater research and bathing here are prohibited, for heritage.
Of course, one might think that the cunning Turks have already planted "antiquities" here today, and yet Jacques-Yves Cousteau alone explored here the seabed confirmed finds and even found a ship of the last millennium ...
Oh, how many there are treasures.

The fate of the island after the outcome of the inhabitants was unsuccessful - it belonged to Byzantium, was looted by the Arabs, was conquered by the Turks and even after World War I even belonged to Italy.
And now, already being Turkish and tourist, to accept people it can not ...
But it's beautiful.

And directly opposite was the ancient Lycian outpost Simena.
All passing ships paid for passage in the bay. Well, or subjected to attacks with towering over the city fortress.

Fantastic!

On the way to the already modern town of Kaleköy, the ruins appear from the water.
Yes, the city was here.
And again, earthquakes that flooded a significant part of city buildings are to blame.

The whole island was once a city block.

A local attraction is the Lycian sarcophagus, standing right in the waters of the sea.
Most likely, already looted.
Its lid is like an inverted boat. Lycian seafarers were sure that even after their death they would do their favorite thing.

Once Simen was a prosperous and important port.
Very close to the west - the Aegean Sea and access to Rhodes, Crete and mainland Greece, and to the east - Cyprus and Syria.
However, time and element spares no one.

By the time of the conquest of the fortified strong fortress of the Byzantine, and then the Ottoman Empire, little of the civil buildings remained.
Only in the last century it was allowed to rebuild residential buildings, but with one condition - only on the foundations of antique houses and copying their appearance.
About the copy, I deeply doubt, and yet it looks extremely effective.

In a small town with a population of no more than 100 people can be reached by car.
However, be prepared for the fact that the prices there are simply sky-high. From local attractions somewhere behind the fortress there is a large amphitheater and remains of the fortification wall.
Unfortunately, there was no time to visit those places.

Eh! Very beautiful.

Well, the necropolis next to the theater, by itself.
Lycians always built their cities of the dead near the places of celebrations and city events.
So the dead was more cheerful.

Good-bye, Simena!

Of course, after such paintings and stories, you had to cool your head.
I bathed, of course.

Well, I ate.
The food is quite tasty, but not too expensive.

Actually, it's time and honor to know.
Rich in Turkey's history, even enviable little.
It is convenient, when all the year round there is an opportunity to admire cities that are more than two thousand years old.
The main thing is that all this wealth should be saved, not put aside for souvenirs ....

Do not switch, there are a lot of interesting things ahead!

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All photos in my blog were taken only by me.
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With best regards @Nikitinskiy