Sail Simena Castle: Lycian Sunken City

Simena Castle (modern Kaleköy, literally \"Castle Village\") sits on a steep hilltop on the mainland Lycian coast opposite the Kekova sunken city. The medieval fortress was built by the Knights of Saint John on the foundations of an earlier Byzantine acropolis, which itself sat on the Hellenistic and Lycian-period Simena city. The fortress walls enclose the smallest surviving Greek theatre in the ancient world — a 4-row, 300-seat amphitheatre cut into the bedrock. The modern village of about 300 people sits below the castle on a steep slope, with no road access; goods and supplies arrive by boat. The shallow waters offshore hold the Lycian sunken ruins (5th-4th century BC) of the lower Simena city, partly submerged by a 2nd-century AD earthquake. Simena is 30 minutes from Demre Çayağzı by sail. Season runs April through October.