Kelenderis—also written Celenderis—occupies the harbour area of Aydıncık on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast. Unlike a remote ruin field, the ancient city overlaps the modern town, and continuous occupation has left monuments in fragments rather than one complete urban plan. The Turkish Culture Portal identifies it as a trading port with finds extending at least to the sixth century BC.
Ancient writers offered foundation traditions involving Sandokos and colonists from Samos. These literary accounts are part of the city’s historical reception, but excavation since 1986 supplies firmer evidence for chronology and trade. Ionian connections, local Anatolian traditions and later Roman and Byzantine development all contributed to the port’s character.