Gemile Island

Gemile Island, also spelled Gemiler, lies at the southern end of Fethiye Bay, about 9 kilometres from Fethiye. It is reached by boat from Gemiler Bay near Kayaköy. Some stories link its name to the church on the highest point, which a medieval sailing guide describes as dedicated to Saint Nicholas.

The island was settled from around the 5th century AD. A wall running east to west on the northern slope separates the religious buildings crowded at the top from the civil and commercial buildings below, which shows that the upper part was a holy area. Four church ruins survive, together with tombs, houses and cisterns, and some remains can even be seen under the water. The most magnificent church, numbered 3, is a basilica at the highest point.

So many religious buildings suggest that the island benefited from pilgrim traffic by sea between the Near East and the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, or that it served as a bishopric together with the nearby site of Symbolon, the Blue Lagoon.