Arykanda is a ruin site near the Aykiricay district of Arif village

Arykanda is a ruin site near the Aykiricay district of Arif village, near the Elmali-Finike highway. It is located on a very steep rick cliff called "Sahinkaya" (Falconrock), on the south side of the Bey Mountains. Standing on the northern edge, the name of this steep rock in the Luwian language was "Arykawanda", meaning "Below the Lofty Rocky Cliffs".

The English researcher and explorer Charles Fellows discovered Arykanda in 1838 and he identified the city from the coins found on the surface and from the epitaphs on the tombs. Although it was visited by many explorers in the late 19th and early 20th century, the detailed investigation of Arykanda was neglected due to the difficult access to the site. From 1971, excavation work has been supervised by professor Dr. Cevdet Bayburtoglu on behalf of the Linguistics and History-Geography Faculty at Ankara University.

Located in an excellent defensive position, concealed in the forest, the earliest settlement at Arykanda began at the end of the Late Сhalcolithic Era. Although the city didn't play an active role in the political history of Lycia and, according to some ancient writers, the citizens were extremely fond of pleasure and idleness, Arykanda possessed all the buildings attributed to a classical city.

On one of the uppermost terraces of Arykanda there is a stadion, built to half the usual size which has on one side the seats for spectators and with its running track shaped in part like a trapeze due to its situation. The stairs near the centre of the terrace connect the stadion to the lower terraces. There is a small but very well preserved theatre standing on the next lower terrace. The theatre follows Greek design and was constructed in the 2nd century A.D. There is an odeon below the theatre terrace. Situated on the same terrace, on the west side of the city, with the seats carved into the native rock is the bouleuterion adjoining the western part of the long stoa. There are also two temples, one for the god Helios and the other for the Roman Emperor Trajan, two agoras, one used for trade, the other for administrative purposes. Prytaneion, sebasteion, and five bath houses, one of which is attached to the gymnasia; nymphaion, latrina, high class villas and middle class housing, workshops, monumental graves and a water system are among the well preserved and restored remains of the city. We can add wide avenues, arches and flights of stairs, footbridges that cross stream beds, separate fresh and dirty, water channels and other city constructions can be added to the list. Arykanda has one of the smallest groups of rockcut tombs of all the Lycian cities. Apart from one, a group of rock tombs, all gathered near the source of Aykiricay and only one of them carries a Greek inscription. On the other hand there are the remains of one basilica and two churches built in Christian era Arykanda.