Cape Gelidonya

Cape Gelidonya marks the southeastern tip of Turkey's Teke Peninsula, where the Gulf of Antalya meets Finike Bay. Ancient Greek sailors called the headland Chelidonia, or "Swallow Cape," while the Romans knew it as Promontorium Sacrum; today it carries the Turkish name Taşlık Burnu. Rocky and exposed to southerly winds, the cape has long served as both a landmark and a hazard for vessels rounding the southern Anatolian coast.

Its greatest claim to fame lies underwater. In 1954 a local sponge diver found the remains of a Bronze Age ship on the rocky seabed roughly 27 metres down, and the wreck was properly excavated starting in 1960 by a team including George Bass. Dated to around 1200 BC and likely of Mycenaean origin, the cargo of copper and tin ingots, pottery and merchant weights made it the oldest shipwreck known at the time and a founding project of modern nautical archaeology.

The cape's isolation and rugged coastline still draw sailors today, and it is a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Turkey keen to combine a scenic anchorage with a taste of maritime history.