Kas was originally called Habesos or Habesa in the ancient tongue
of Lycia and later was given the name Antiphellos.
Kas was founded on the ancient town of Antiphellos and the Lycian
style sarcophagus at the beginning of the avenue running down to the port
is almost the symbol of this lovely town near Antalya in the Mediterranean
region south of Turkey.
Antiphellos, which once was a member of the Lycian League, is known to have gained reputation and importance as a port town during the Hellenistic period, sustaining its significance as one of the leading towns during the Roman period as well.
Today's Kas is a coastal town of the Lycians. "Phellos" is the Greek word for "stony place" and this name is very well suited to Kas. Its well preserved rock tombs and theater are well worth seeing.
Kas today is a small and charming coastal resort where many sailing
boats anchor in its small marina.
Kalkan is a lovely small hilltop town that overlooks a tiny bay.
Its quaint, traditional, white-washed houses, shuttered windows and balconies
garlanded with brilliant flowers that cascade to the streets below, make
it the ultimate in a peaceful holiday town in the Mediterranean
region of Turkey. Narrow winding streets lined
with souvenir shops lead down to the charming marina.
Every morning boats busily take tourists to one of the nearby beaches or small bays. As the sun sets it is Kalkan style to meet on the roof terraces for a drink before dinner and enjoy the comings and goings of the yachts, the business of the marina and the panoramic view.
Kalkan is situated on a beautiful small bay near
Antalya province. Nearest airport
is Dalaman (2 hours by taxi). You can enjoy a daily island
excursion in a gullet (wooden hulled local boats),
a moonlight dinner cruise, or go by minivan to
the nearby villages of Patara and Bergin. Patara
beach is a 20 km long, unspoiled white sand beach 12 km from Kalkan. There
is another beautiful small sandy beach (Kaputas beach) 5 km from Kalkan.
Unfortunately there are no sandy beaches in Kalkan.
Aperlai is located on the Sicak peninsula, near the Sicak jetty.
A Lycian city, Aperlai’s history is known from
coins bearing its name that have been discovered and goes back to the 4th
or 5th centuries B.C. Aperlai was the head of the Lycian
Confederacy, of which Simena and Apollonia
were also members.
The city walls begin at the seashore and are fortified with towers at
intervals. These walls, with their rectangular and polygonal construction,
are from Roman times. Other remains at Aperlai are all from the Byzantine
and later periods. The western reaches of the wall are of rectangular construction.
There are three gates in this wall, two of which have a plain and the third
a blind archway. The southern reaches of the walls are of polygonal construction
and in a bad state of repair. This side is reinforced with two towers and
it is here that the main gate was located. Outside the walls are typical
Lycian sarcophagi from Roman times.
|