The ancient city of Simena, known today as Kale, is located directly opposite Kekova Island, approximately 9 km west of the port of Andriake. It lies less than 1 km east of Teimiusa. However, unlike Teimiusa, its difficult topography meant that access to the city by sea remained the only viable route until the 20th century.
During the Lycian League period, Simena was a member of the sympoliteia led by Aperlai, together with Apollonia and Isinda. A small number of rock-cut tombs in the Classical Lycian style attest to the city’s Dynastic-period occupation. The medieval fortress on the hill rising above the harbor was constructed on top of earlier Dynastic-period fortification walls. Traces of both Dynastic and Hellenistic structures are also visible beneath later buildings.
The small rock-cut theater within the castle, with seven rows of seating and carved into bedrock during the Hellenistic period, is likely one of the oldest theaters in Lycia. The remains of a structure on the slope in front of the castle walls belong to a church built over an earlier temple.
The ancient harbor is now submerged. Researchers suggest that this may have resulted from strong seismic activity in the region, particularly during the first millennium CE, as well as long-term sea-level rise. Underwater surveys of the sunken harbor have identified numerous structures, including several ship shelters. As in many Lycian cities, the best-preserved monuments at Simena are the tombs. A number of Classical Lycian-style rock-cut tombs are located around the acropolis hill, one of which bears a Lycian inscription (TL 68). The necropolis area to the east of the hill also contains numerous sarcophagi with ogival-shaped lids.
References:
Aslan, E. 2011. Kekova Bölgesi Limanları, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Selçuk Üniversitesi, Konya.
Benndorf, O. & G. Niemann. 1884. Reisen in Lykien und Karien (Reisen im südwestlichen Kleinasien I), Wien.
Çevik, N. 2021. Lykia Kitabı: Arkeolojisi, Tarihi ve Kültürüyle Batı Antalya, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara.
Texier, C. 1862. Asie Mineure: Description Géographique, Historique et Archeologique, Paris.
Wurster, W. W. 1996. “Dynastensitz und Römerstadt: eine Skizze über Prozesse der Romanisierung in Lykien,” Fremde Zeiten Band I, Festschrift für J. Borchhardt, Wien, 161–174.
Zimmermann, M. 1992. Untersuchungen zur historischen Landeskunde Zentrallykiens, Bonn.
Images:
C. Texier, 1862
O. Benndorf & G. Niemann, 1884
W. W. Wurster, 1996
Bora Bilgin, 2022
Tayfun Bilgin, 2022