City swallowed by sea now center of boat tours

The Kekova region, or Sunken City, which has remained under the sea after two major earthquakes in the sixth century in the Mediterranean, is a frequent destination for hundreds of local and foreign tourists every year.

Although there were major earthquakes like the one in 141, it is known that after the cities were revived, life continued. However, as a result of the major earthquakes in 529 and 540, a large area in Central Lycia, including the Kekova Peninsula of the Demre district, was flooded.

The tsunami and epidemics that occurred after the earthquakes almost destroyed the civilization in the region. The area, called the Sunken City, is flooded by local and foreign tourists today.

Tours are organized to the region where there is no land transportation. The undersea structures of the city are visible, and tourists photograph them.

Speaking about the region, the head of the Myra - Andriake Excavations in the Demre district of Antalya, Professor Nevzat Çevik of Akdeniz University said that the settlements in Kekova were a densely populated area before they sank, and that the region became silent for almost 200 years due to the major earthquakes in 529-540 and the tsunami that followed, as well as epidemics.

"Not only Kekova but also the whole region around Andriake, Finike and Kaş sank. We have some ideas about when this area sank at the earliest. The sarcophagus or the other structures underwater in Andriake Harbor show us that the area remained underwater completely. During the great earthquakes in the sixth century, the plate structures slipped more than two meters towards the sea, causing the cities in the entire region to remain underwater. We understand that life in the coastal areas of those cities ended, especially...