Apollonia () was a city in

ancient Lycia Lycia (; Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka lands, Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the Prov ...

. Its ruins are located near Kiliçli (Sıçak), a small village in the

Kaş Kaş () is a small fishing, diving, yachting and tourist town, and a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,750 km2, and its population is 62,866 (2022). It is 168 km west of the city ...

district of

Antalya Province Antalya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taur ...

, Turkey.

History

Apollonia is not mentioned by ancient historians. The

pillar tomb A pillar tomb is a type of monumental grave wherein the central feature is a single, prominent pillar or column, often made of stone. Overview A number of world cultures incorporated pillars into tomb structures. Examples of such edifices are f ...

s in the

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

to the north of the city attest to a Lycian origin of the settlement, and date to . During the period when the region was under

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

control, the city was part of a local federation, or ''

sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' (), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, the term was often used for a federal state co ...

'', that comprised Simena, Isinda and Aperlae. Led by Aperlae, it had one vote in the

Lycian League Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğla ...

. The ruins of a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

church possibly date to the 6th or 7th century AD, so the city was still occupied at that time.

Description

Apollonia is located on a hill and has a walled

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

at its highest elevation. In the east the acropolis seems to be double because a much older

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

is located inside the Byzantine walls. Two churches, a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

, baths with

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s and a heroon are found on the western and northwestern side of the acropolis. Houses were built on the southwestern side. Six pillar tombs and one larger monument are found around the acropolis.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Information about Apollonia
from the Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
Images of the site
at ''artichaeology.com''. Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Archaeological sites in Antalya Province Former populated places in Turkey Populated places in ancient Lycia Roman towns and cities in Turkey {{coord, 36, 11, 12, N, 29, 45, 50, E, display=title

History

Description

References

Sources

Further reading

External links