Today’s Finike, Phoenicus of the ancients, is famous for its oranges and supplies much of Turkey with fruit and vegetables. Finike is an agricultural cornucopia and has little to attract the visitor but it can be used as a base from which to explore the ancient sites of Limyra, Arycanda and Olympus. Through much of its history, and especially in the Age of Rome, this corner of Lycia was a notorious pirate den subjected to periodic punitive military expeditions, with young Julius Caesar taking part in one such campaign under the Roman proconsul Publius Servilius Vatia in 79 B.C.
The Roman iron fist was temporarily and partially successful in eradicating the pirates, but the proximity of this region to sea lanes teeming with richly laden ships was too tempting to keep them out whenever the power of the ruling government faltered, a state of affairs common under the Byzantines and the Ottomans.
The conspicuous promontory to the east of Finike that marks the western point of the Gulf of Antalya was known as the Sacrian Cape in ancient times and more recently as Cape Gelidonya (called ‘Taslik Burnu’ in Turkish). It was off this cape that a shipwreck was identified in 1959 by Peter Throckmorton, an American journalist and amateur archaeologist, as a Bronze Age ship; it was excavated in later years by Prof. George Bass of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology its remains and artifacts are exhibited today in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
Climate
With hot and dry summers and warm and rainy winters, the Mediterranean Climate is dominant in the region.
Transportation
The closest airport that can be used by those who want to reach Finike by air is Antalya Airport. It is 127 km from Finike. You can reach Finike by buses departing from Antalya Bus Station.
The distances of Turkey’s 5 biggest cities to Finike
İstanbul – Finike 792 km
Ankara – Finike 631 km
İzmir – Finike 482 km
Bursa – Finike 643 km
Antalya – Finike 113 km
Places to visit in Finike, Distances to City Center
(Arykanda Ancient City 31 km
Limyra Ancient City 7,4 km
Yalakbaşı Ancient City 4,2 km
Arneai Ancient City 42 km
Suluin Cave 2,3 km
Radyofar Cove 3,5 km
Mendikli Cove 3,9 km
Gökliman Beach 4,4 km
Dragon’s Eye 6,7 km
Çağıllı Beach 7,8 km
Mağaralı Cove 11,3 km
Oruç Reis Cove 2,3 km
Gökbük Canyon 22,2 km