The ancient city of Aperlai is located at the beginning of a long and narrow bay on the Sıçak Peninsula between Kaş and Kekova. The easiest way to get there is by sea from Kaş and Üçağız to Sıçak Pier. The original name of the town is "Aprillai" in the Luwian language and means "River Strait". Aperlai is a small Lycian harbour town.

As artefacts from the V and IV centuries BC, the Lycian silver coins with the abbreviations APR and PRL indicate the existence of Aperlai before the Lycian League. The name of the city is mainly found in the late writers Pliny, Stadiasmus, Ptolemy and Hierocles. In the 16th century it is also mentioned in Piri Reis's Kitab-ı Bahriye as a sheltered harbour, where it was completely abandoned and perhaps sheltered three or five fishermen's families.

It is known that Aperlai, whose coins have also been found belonging to the Union period, was only authorised to mint coins during the reign of Gordian III, as were the other cities of Lycia under Roman rule. During the Lycian League, Aperlai was at the head of the union in which three cities, and according to some sources four, had a "single vote". It is certain that Aperlai signed and formed a "sympoliteia" with Simena, Apollonia and Isinda. The citizens of these three cities were referred to in inscriptions as "Aperlaians of Simena" and their ethnic names were not used. In the episcopal records of the Byzantine period, the name appears as "Aprillae".

The ruins of the city are located at the foot of the hill that descends to the sea, on the northern side of the bay. The ancient city of Aperlai is surrounded by walls reinforced with towers in rectangular and polygonal shapes, starting from the sea and going up to the acropolis. Three square defence towers can be seen on the northern walls. The western wall, the best preserved, has three gates, two of which are straight and one arched. The southern wall runs perpendicular to the slope of the hill and is polygonal. Although it is now largely destroyed, in the centre of the wall there is a gate with a tower on either side that gives access to the city.

As in all Lycian port cities, the remains of two Roman baths have been found near the port. The remains of two small Byzantine churches, one on the north-western corner of the acropolis and the other on the south-eastern corner, attract attention. Both churches, dating from the 6th and 7th centuries AD, were built on a basilical plan and reflect early Byzantine church architecture. There are two narrow naves on either side of the wide central nave and a semicircular apse at the end. The city's necropolis lies to the east of the walls and contains many Lycian sarcophagi. The remains of the quay, the buildings belonging to the quay and the buildings close to the quay are now under water.

The ancient city of Aperlai is located at the beginning of a long and narrow bay on the Sıçak Peninsula between Kaş and Kekova. The easiest way to get there is by sea from Kaş and Üçağız to Sıçak Pier. The original name of the town is "Aprillai" in the Luwian language and means "River Strait". Aperlai is a small Lycian harbour town.