Aperlai is in the Siçak
Port on the Siçak Peninsula. You can reach here by boat from
Kas or Üçagiz. You can also drive from Apolloia in Kiliçli.
From coins unearthed at this site, archaeologists date Aperlai
to the fourth or fifth century B.C.. Aperlai was in the Lycian
Union with Isinda, Simena and Apolloia, and it was the head
of the union. City walls built in
rectangular and polygonal
techniques were fortified with towers placed at regular intervals.
The city walls that surround a rectangular area form a magnificent
view. Remains outside the walls were built in Byzantine times
or later eras. The southern part of the wall was built in
a
polygonal technique, and this part
has fallen into ruins even though it was fortified by
two towers. It also has a gate that is the main entrance.
On the northwest corner, there is a church and on the
southeast corner, there is a chapel and a building.
On the east of the wall, there are many sarcophagi,
all bearing round, curved lids. Some of these are located
between walls built in earlier times and the coast.
This tells us that this area belonged
to the city which was surrounded with walls. Today Aperlai’s
dock and other structures of this dock are submerged
underwater and some of them can be glimpsed beneath
the sea.
