Myra

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Myra

of Myra, with the rock-cut tombs of the ancient Lycia

Lycia

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
on the cliff in the background.]]

Myra is an ancient town in Lycia

Lycia

Lycia was a region in Anatolia in what are now the Provinces of Turkey of Antalya Province and Mugla Province on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a Roman province of the Roman Empire....
, where the small town of Kale (Demre
Demre

Demre is a district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.Demre is the Lycian town of Myra, the home of Saint Nicholas of Myra the original Santa Claus....
) is situated today in present day Antalya Province

Antalya Province

Antalya Province is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean sea.Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visiting Turkey....
of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
. It was located on the river Myros (Demre Çay), in the fertile alluvial plain

Alluvial plain

An alluvial plain is a relatively flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which Alluvium soil forms....
between Alaca Dag, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea

Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkans and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively....
.

Historical evidence
Although some scholars equate Myra with the town Mira in Arzawa

Arzawa

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of Myra, with the rock-cut tombs of the ancient Lycia

Lycia

Necropolis

Lycia

Antalya Province

Turkey

Alluvial plain

Aegean Sea

Historical evidence

Although some scholars equate Myra with the town Mira in Arzawa

Arzawa

Arzawa was the name of a region or kingdom in Western Anatolia, which later to be known as Lydia in the post-Hittite era. It was the western neighbour and sometimes vassal of the Hittites, and probably bordered on the Assuwa league to the north....
, there is no proof for the connection. There is no substantiated written reference for Myra before it was listed as a member of the Lycian alliance (168 BC - AD 43); according to Strabo

Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
(14:665) it was one of the largest towns of the alliance.

The Greek citizens worshipped Artemis

Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
Eleutheria

Eleutheria

Eleutheria is an ancient and modern Greek term for, and personification of, liberty. Eleutheria personified had a brief career on coins of Alexandria....
, who was the protective goddess of the town. Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
, Athena

Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
and Tyche

Tyche

In Ancient Greek religion, Tyche was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. Increasingly during the Hellenistic period, cities had their own specific iconic version of Tyche, wearing a mural crown ....
were venerated as well.

The ruins of the Lycian and Roman town are mostly covered by alluvial silts. The Acropolis

Acropolis

Acropolis literally means city on the edge . For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides....
on the Demre-plateau, the Roman theatre

Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
and the Roman baths

Roman Baths

The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the England city of Bath, Somerset. The complex is a very well-preserved Roman Britain site for public bathing....
(eski hamam) have been partly excavated. The semi-circular theater was destroyed in an earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph....
in 141, but rebuilt afterwards.

There are two necropoli

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
of Lycian

Lycian

Lycian may refer to:* Anything related to Lycia* Lycian Apollo, a type of ancient Greek statuary* Lycian language, the language of Lycia* Lycian script, the writing system of Lycian language...
rock-cut tombs in the form of temple-fronts carved into the vertical faces of cliffs at Myra: the river-necropolis and the ocean-necropolis. The ocean necropolis is just northwest of the theater. The best known tomb in the river-necropolis (located 1.5 km up the Demre Cayi from the theater) is the "Lion's tomb,"also called the "Painted Tomb." When the traveller Charles Fellows

Charles Fellows

Sir Charles Fellows was a United Kingdom archaeologist.Fellows was born at Nottingham, where his family had an estate. When fourteen he drew sketches to illustrate a trip to the ruins of Newstead Abbey, which afterwards appeared on the title-page of Moore's Life of Lord Byron....
saw the tombs in 1840 he found them still colorfully painted red, yellow and blue.

Andriake was the harbour of Myra in classical times, but silted up later on. The main structure there surviving to the present day is a granary built during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138 CE). Beside this granary is a large heap of Murex shells, evidence that Andriake had an ongoing operation for the production of purple dye.

In early Christian times, Myra was the metropolis

Metropolitan bishop

In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis ; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital....
of Lycia

Lycia

Paul of Tarsus

Saint Paul, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul or Paul of Tarsus , was a Hellenistic Judaism, who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles", and was, together with Saint Peter and James the Just, the most notable of early Christian missionaries....
, who changed ships in its harbor. Saint

Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
Nicholas of Myra was the bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
of Myra in the 4th century, and was an ardent opponent of Arianism

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heresy at the First Council of Nicea, later exonerated and then pronounced a heretic again after his death....
at the First Council of Nicaea

First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicea was convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperors Constantine I in 325 CE. The Council was historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus decision-making in the church through an legislature representing all of Christendom....
in 325. Myra became the capital of the Byzantine Eparchy

Eparchy

Eparchy is an anglicized Greek language word, authentically latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something', but has the following specific meanings, both in political history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Churches....
of Lycia under Theodosius II

Theodosius II

Flavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was an Eastern Roman Empire , mostly known for the law code bearing his name, the Codex Theodosianus, and the Walls of Constantinople#The Theodosian Walls of Constantinople built during his reign....
, who reigned from 408 to 450.

Siege of 809

Saves Three Innocents from Death (oil painting by Ilya Repin, 1888, State Russian Museum).]]

After a siege
Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by Battle of attrition and/or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit." A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a coup de main and refuses to surrender ....
in 809, Myra fell to Abbasid
Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The Caliphate is one of the high points of Islam, and at the time Muslim civilization, together with that of Byzantium, China and India, was the most developed part of the world....
troops under Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid

Harun al-Rashid ; also spelled Harun ar-Rashid; , Aaron the Just, or Aaron the Rightly-Guided; March 17, 763 – March 24, 809) was the fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliphate Caliph....
. The town went into a decline afterwards. Early in the reign of Alexius I Comnenus (ruled between 1081 - 1118), Myra was again overtaken by Islamic invaders, this time the Seljuk Turks. In the confusion, sailors from Bari
Bari

Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic sea, in Italy. It is the second economic centre of mainland Southern Italy and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas....
in Italy seized the relic
Relic

A relic is an object or a personal item of Religion significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, shamanism, and many other religions....
s of Saint Nicholas, over the objections of the monk
Monk

A Monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, the unconditioning of mind and body in favor of the realization of one's true nature, and does so living either alone or with any number of like-minded people, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose....
s caring for them, and spirited the remains away to Bari, where they arrived on May 9, 1087, and soon brought that city visitors making pilgrimage
Pilgrimage

File:Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpgIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long quest or search of great moral significance....
to Saint Nicholas.

The church of St. Nicholas at Myra
in Myra.]]

The earliest church of St. Nicholas at Myra was built in the 6th century. The present-day church was constructed mainly from the 8th century onward; a monastery
Monastery

Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone ....
was added in the second half of the 11th century.

In 1863, Tsar
Tsar

Tsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or tzar in English language, is a slavs term designating certain monarchs.Originally, the title Czar meant Emperor in the European medieval sense of the term, that is, a ruler who has the same rank as a Ancient Rome or Byzantine emperor due to recognition by another emperor or...
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the List of Russian rulers of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881....
purchased the building and began restoration, but the work was never finished. In 1963 the eastern and southern sides of the church were excavated. In 1968 the former confessio (tomb) of St. Nicholas was roofed over.

The floor of the church is made of opus sectile

Opus sectile

Opus sectile refers to an art technique popularized in Rome where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern....
, a mosaic

Mosaic

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other material. It may be a technique of Decorative arts, an aspect of interior decoration or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral....
of coloured marble, and there are some remains of fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins....
es on the walls. An ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
marble

Marble

Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for Marble sculpture, as a architecture material, and in many other applications....
sarcophagus

Sarcophagus

A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek language sa?? sarx meaning "flesh", and fa?e?? phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos the word came to refer to the limestone t...
had been reused to bury the Saint; but his bones were stolen in 1087 by merchants from Bari

Bari

Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic sea, in Italy. It is the second economic centre of mainland Southern Italy and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas....
, and are now held in the cathedral of that city

Basilica di San Nicola (Bari)

The Basilica di San Nicola is a church in Bari, southern Italy, that holds wide religious significance throughout Europe and the Christian world....
.

The church is currently undergoing restoration. In 2007, after several years of refusal, the Turkish Ministry of Culture gave permission for the Divine Liturgy

Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine church tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches....
to be celebrated in the church for the first time in centuries.

External links

at Turkish Ministry of Culture site
Tripod site
article from AsiaNews.it

Photos and videos

of the Church of St. Nicholas and the Roman theatre
Guide and Photo Album
(Pictures)