Ruins of the city are on a hill just south of Sahilkılınçlı village, 3 km north of Aperlai, between Kaş and Demre. The dynastic period ruins, especially the pillar tombs that are typical of Lycia, date the foundation of the city before the 4th century BCE. During the Lycian League period, Apollonia was in a quartet sympolitea led by Aperlai (together with the cities of Simena and Isinda). It is likely that the city got its name from the Hellenistic period god Apollo. The dynastic period name of the city is unknown. Although the Lycian name Aprlla appears on some dynastic period coins is generally attributed to the neighboring Aperlai, some researchers suggest it refers to Apollonia. According to Martin Zimmermann, Apollonia’s name in the dynastic period was Aperlai, and the city of Aperlai, just 3 km to the south, was a small port settlement at that time. Since the Hellenistic period, the growing port settlement took the name of Aperlai, and the old settlement may have started to be called with a new Hellenistic period name Apollonia. This finds support from the fact that Aperlai has no dynastic period remains, yet there are many dynastic period monuments in Apollonia, which includes six Lycian pillar tombs. The small castle in the highest part of the acropolis hill also dates to the dynastic period. The wide range of sarcophagi on the northeastern skirts of the acropolis hill are mostly from the Roman period. There are also a small Hellenistic theater with 10 rows of seats, a bath, two churches and many cisterns.
References:
Çevik, N. 2021. Lykia Kitabı: Arkeolojisi, Tarihi ve Kültürüyle Batı Antalya, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara.
Wurster, W. W. 1976. ‘Antike Siedlungen in Lykien. Vorbericht über ein Survey-Unternehmen im. Sommer 1974’, AA48, 23–49.
Zimmermann, M. 1992. Untersuchungen zur historischen Landeskunde Zentrallykiens, Bonn.
Image sources:
W. W. Wurster, 1976
Volker Höhfeld, 1997
Ertuğrul Anıl, 2022
Tayfun Bilgin, 2022
Bora Bilgin, 2022, 2023
Reha Özer, 2023