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Kalkan, located on the lands between Antalya and Fethiye, where the Lycian civilization existed over 3,000 years ago, does not seem to have been a place of settlement in antiquity. lt is believed that Kalkan was settled by the merchants who came from the nearby island of Megistis about 150 – 200 years ago.
Kalkan was a safe harbour for the sailors throughout history. For this reason, it kept its reputation as a trading point for agricultural and forestry products, coming from the Elmali-Gombe-Bezirgan regions. The merchandise coming to the harbor was transported to the inlands (Elmali, Xantos) by camels. Kalkan was a harbour where the trading of materials like coal, silk, olive oilwine, cotton, grain, sesame, flour, grape was big business.
ln 1923, following the Exchange period, some local people left Kalkan and the population decreased. However, a steady flow of people coming from the villages around, revitalized Kalkan, and after the 1970′s, with the opening of the Antalya road, maritime trade came to an end. Following the development of tourism, which brought lots of foreign nationals, some of whom eventually settled in Kalkan, various new sectors and branches of commerce developed.
Kalkan was an old Greek fishing town until the 1920s, with the name of “Kalamaki”. The former church of this town is now being used as a mosque. The old part of the town extending towards the surrounding mountains, is a conservation area and called “Koyici”. The districts of Kalamar is in the west, Komurluk and Kisla are in the east and Kiziltas is at the north end of the town.
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At the beginning of the 20th century Kalkan started to expand. According to a report from the year 1915 there were 17 restaurants, one locksmith and a tailor’s shop. First local elections were held in 1928 and the elementary school was constructed in 1937. Atter the First World War and during the Turkish War of lndependance, based on the Exchange Agreement made between Turkey and Greece, in 1921 all of the Greeks in town emigrated to Greece. ln spite of all the transformations, the old traditions still exist. The local people in the mountain village of Bezirgan spend the summer months there, and come down to Kalkan in winter months.
It is said that the historian Herodotus, who lived about 2,300 years ago, referred to Kalkan as “THE PLACE NEAREST T0 THE STARS”.