Kalkan Attractions

Kalkan translates from Turkish as a round shield. It is a small town with a peculiar architecture combining Greek and Turkish features: small white houses, narrow paved streets.

It makes a pleasant impression and the locals are charming with their hospitality. It is the one sheltered bay on the coast from Fethiye to Kas. Yacht mooring in the city's marina is perfectly safe. There are many restaurants, ATM's, good grocery stores.

For a long time there was a small and unremarkable Greek village of Kalamaki on the site of modern Kalkan. Since then in the old part of the city there are houses with recognizable features of Greek construction.

Then a small town named Kalkan was built on this spot. Since the 1960s Kalkan has been loved by British sailors and divers. Since then Kalkan is considered a great place for family holidays. There are many cottages in the town whose owners are British. Obviously for this reason the local stores have products that are atypical of Turkey (e.g. bacon, pork).

Kalkan is known for having more restaurants, cafes and bars per capita than anywhere else in Turkey. A distinctive feature of some restaurants is that they are located on rooftops, terraces, which offer a beautiful view of the narrow streets of the city with snow-white houses and the sea.

A few minutes outside the city (8 km) there is an interesting Turkish village of Islamlar famous for its fish farms where trout are grown and served in local restaurants.

A 20-minute drive west from Kalkan is Patara - a nature reserve and ancient Lycian port.

It was the main port of Lycia and famous by its temple of Apollo with its sacred oracle. Because of its proximity to the estuary of the Xanthus River opening the way to a densely populated valley Pattara was great strategic and commercial importance. In the 4th century A.D. the future bishop of Myra Saint Nicholas ( also known Saint Nicholas or Nicholas Wonderworker and  prototype of Santa Clausin in European folklore) was born here.

Twelve kilometers north of Pattara on the Essen River is the largest city of ancient Lycia.

Together with the sanctuary of Leton it is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.