BC 400 – AD 700

Aperlai

A harbour city that struck its own coinage; part of its walls and its quay now lie below sea level.

Lycian League votes
1
Location
36.1596° N, 29.7822° E
Today
Sıcak Yarımadası · Kaş, Antalya

On the Lycian Way

Four cities, one vote

Antiphellos – Aperlai – Simena

In the bay of Kekova the fine machinery of the Lycian League shows itself: Aperlai, Simena, Apollonia and Isinda voted as a single unit — four cities, one vote. An order that neither ignored the small nor inflated it. On the shore lies the sunken city: the earthquake of the second century AD dropped the ground, and the steps of the houses run down into the water.

The whole Lycian Way — 12 stages, 540 km

In mythology

A country that lives with the sea

The Nereids

The Lycian coast is full of islands, coves and sunken cities; here the sea is not a border but a road. So the Nereids appear not only on one monument but on the coins and votive offerings of the coastal cities. A people who put out to sea every day take the nymphs of the sea along with them.

Nearby cities

Apollonia · Teimiussa · Simena · Isinda · Dolichiste

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