The history of the 'Dolichiste Ancient City' on the west end of Kekova Island and the 'Sunken City' on the north, on land and at sea, is being investigated. Konya Selcuk University, Faculty of Letters, Underwater Archeology Department, Lecturer. Erdoğan Aslan, underwater archaeologist Kenan Beşaltı from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and a team of five archeology students are working in two ancient cities.

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Sunken City, one of the two settlements on Kekova Island, is 700 meters long. There are Roman and Byzantine structures in the form of terraces, up to 3-4 floors, in the ancient city. The second settlement on Kekova Island is the Dolichiste Ancient City, located in Tersane Bay in the west of the island. There is a tower, harbor and port structures belonging to the Hellenistic Period found in this ancient city. There are three large churches and two chapels in the ancient city.

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Working Group Chairman Dr. Stating that they continue their work in Tersane Bay, Erdoğan Aslan said, "We are drawing up the plans for the settlement and the city here. On the other hand, we are simultaneously conducting underwater research in and around the port of this place as an underwater team.

 

Here, there is a construction starting from the Hellenistic Period, mainly from the Christian period. We have identified about 150-200 houses, workshops, cisterns and urban fabric at the moment," he said.

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In the region to the east of Kekova Island, at a depth of 13-20 meters, BC. Stating that they identified Rhodes type amphoras from the 3rd century, Dr. Erdogan Aslan said, "We also found many Byzantine amphorae dating back to the 5-6th century AD. Based on these amphoras, we guess that a ship that left Rhodes and came to Myra sank here."

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