Finike.be - English

Finike.be is a website about the city Finike (Turkey) for Belgium

Finike (ancient Phoenicus) is a district on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya Province of Turkey, 90 minutes west of the city of Antalya.

Finike is located in the south of the Teke peninsula, and the coast here is a popular tourist destination. However, Finike is best-known for its oranges, the symbol of the town.

History
For centuries Finike, then named Phoenicus was a trading port, the main port of Limyra, the capital city of Lycia. Phoenicus was said to have been founded by Phoenicians in the 5th Century BC, and thus named after its founders.

Historic map of Finike by Piri ReisThe area has been inhabited for much longer than that, archaeologists have found evidence near the town of Elmalý showing that the Teke peninsula has been settled since 3000 BC (although on the coast nothing has been uncovered dating before 2000 BC).

Trade along the coast was established first by the Persians, who relinquished Lycia to the armies of Alexander the Great. However the coast was always vulnerable to forces from Syria, Egypt and Rhodes until it was brought within the empire of the Ancient Romans and the succeeding Byzantines.

Even then the Byzantines were threatened by the Arabian armies coming from the Arabic Peninsula. Eventually the area was lost to the Seljuk Turks in the 13th century. These were succeeded by the Ottoman Empire from 1426 AD