Kaleköy Kaleköy literally means Castle's Village in Turkish and was known historically in ancient Lycia as Simena. It is a village of the Demre district in the Antalya Province of Turkey located between Kaş and Kale on the Mediterranean coast. Kaleköy faces the island of Kekova and can be reached by sea or on foot from Üçağız. Kaleköy is a popular yachting destination for the Bluecruises that ply these waters each year. The village lies amidst a Lycian necropolis which is partially sunken underwater. Kaleköy is overlooked by a Byzantine castle built in the Middle Ages to fight the pirates which nested in Kekova. This castle contains a small theater. On its northern side there are the partly sunken ruins of Dolchiste/Dolikisthe - an ancient town which was destroyed by an earthquake during the 2nd century. Rebuilt and still flourishing during the Byzantine Empire period it was finally abandoned because of Arab incursions. The Kekova region was declared a specially protected area on 18 January 1990 by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forest. All kinds of diving and swimming were prohibited and subject to special permits from governmental offices. In later years the prohibition has been lifted except for the area where the sunken city is located. From inscriptions that have been found it is known that the history of the ancient city of Kalekoy goes back to the 4th century B.C. If you go ashore via the jetty next to the sarcophagus on the seashore and climb the hill behind the houses you will reach the castle of Simena. This castle was used during the Middle Ages by the Byzantines. In the medieval walls of the inner castle-keep are a few blocks of all that remains of the ancient temple. Inside the castle is a small natural theater carved into the rock. This is the smallest of theaters among the cities of Lycia. West of the theater there are rock tombs scattered about and above the rock tombs is a Roman wall built of dressed stone. On this wall are late-period embrasures thus giving one a glimpse of three eras simultaneously. On the shore are the ruins of the public baths that have an inscription that is still legible and reads: "A gift to the emperor Titus made by the people and council of Aperlai as well as by the other cities of the confederation."
Kaleköy
