Apolloia (Kilinclar)

The Apolloian ruins are on a hill in the village of Kiliçli 22 kilometer away from Kaş on the Kekova road. You can drive to the hill and then climb to the top. As with other Lycian cities, we know little about Apolloia. Ancient writers were also not clear about where exactly Apolloia was situated, but today we know almost definitely from inscriptions and a sacrifice stele from the times of Augustus and Tiberius that Apolloia was in today’s Kiliçli village.

Apollania was a strong fortress where a ruler lived. Judging from the remains, Apolloia existed in the fourth century B.C. and was represented in the Lycian Union as Aperlai. The city was set up on a rocky area that looked like the letter L. The city walls to the north and west have survived to our day with little damage. Some of the city walls were built in rectangular shapes and cyclopean-style large stones were used in the construction of most of them.

İlhan Aksit's book "Işık Ulkesi Lycia" (Lycia, Country of Light) and web site of Ministry of Culture & Tourism was used as a source for this webpage.