Simena (Kaleköy)

Overview

Simena is a small Lycian town on a peninsula opposite Kekova Island, and today its village goes by the name Kaleköy. It lies on the Antalya coast between Kaş and Demre. It is one of the rare settlements in Turkey that you can reach only by sea. So you arrive by boat, step onto the waterfront and then climb toward the castle on the hill. Our Fethiye Kekova gulet charter stops here on its week from Fethiye.

Above the houses, a medieval castle crowns the rock, while a tiny theater sits inside its walls. Down at the shore, Lycian sarcophagi stand in the shallow sea. Because the ruins and the village share one hillside, a visit here mixes archaeology with daily life. Across the channel lies Kekova, and its sunken ruins have their own page.

Kaleköy, a village reached by sea

No road runs into Kaleköy, so the only way in is from the sea. Officially, the village is the Kaleköy area of Üçağız neighborhood in Demre district. Across the protected Kekova coast, land routes are few, so boats do the work of roads. Fishing is the main livelihood there.

Quick facts

• Good for: Lycian ruins, castle views, boat days on the Kekova coast
• Best combined with: Kekova, Kaş, Myra

History of Simena

Lycian beginnings of Simena

Simena's story reaches back at least to the 4th century BC. That date comes from an inscription in Lycian script and from a silver coin found at nearby Aperlai. Since then, people have lived on this point without a break. Later, in the Middle Ages, the castle on the summit came into use.

Inside the castle, you can see the traces of one religious building with three lives. It served first as a temple, then as a church and finally as a mosque.

Simena holds a place on Türkiye's UNESCO tentative list as well. Kekova joined the list in 2000, and the ancient cities of Lycia followed in 2009. In the Lycian entry, Simena counts among the smaller cities, while Myra and the Church of St. Nicholas and Olympos and the Chimaera rank among the main ones. Neither entry is a World Heritage listing yet.

What to See in Simena

The castle above Kaleköy

The castle is the first thing you see from the water, and it has stood intact to this day. From the shore, a steep path then climbs through the village. In places, ancient steps carry it up the rock. At the top, the walls look out over Kekova and the bay.

The theater cut into the rock

Inside the castle, Simena's builders cut a small theater straight into the natural rock. It has seven rows of seats, and it held about 300 people. Because it sits inside the walls, you reach it on the same climb as the castle.

Sarcophagi in the water and the necropolis

At the waterline, Lycian-type sarcophagi stand in the sea beside old stairs, a breakwater and building remains. Further sarcophagi line the shore and the path up to the castle. One of them carries an inscription for Mentor, son of Idargus. Northeast of the castle, a wide necropolis spreads over the slope, with sarcophagi and rock tombs. One house-shaped tomb there bears an inscription in the Lycian language.

Visiting Simena

How to visit Simena by boat

Boats reach Simena from Üçağız or from Çayağzı. Üçağız is the other village of the Kekova area, ancient Teimiussa. The marinas for Kekova are Kekova/Üçağız Port and Setur Kaş. So boats for this stretch of coast set out from Kaş as well as from Üçağız.

Simena sits on the wider Blue Voyage coast as well. These gulet cruises run along the coasts of Fethiye, Kaş, Kalkan, Olympos and Antalya, among others. A traditional wooden Bodrum gulet suits a group of eight to sixteen. The name Blue Voyage comes from the works of writers such as Halikarnas Balıkçısı and Azra Erhat.

You can land and walk up, because the castle and theater form a ticketed archaeological site. The Museum Pass The Mediterranean is valid there. We arrange your entry to Simena and time the climb to the castle with the boat.

Protection and swimming rules

The whole coast here sits inside the Kaş–Kekova Special Environmental Protection Area. The Council of Ministers declared it on January 18, 1990, with decision 90/77. Later, in 2006, a new decision gave the area its current Kaş–Kekova name. On land, Simena is registered as a first-degree archaeological site.

Out on the water, follow your captain, and keep your swim for the bays where boats stop for it.

Seeing Simena with Us

Would you like to step ashore at Simena on a day out from Demre or from the deck of a gulet? Our Demre, Myra and Kekova tour lands at Kaleköy, and our blue cruise service sails this coast. The steps up to the castle and the tombs in the water wait on the day you choose.

Updated: October 25, 2026.