| The ancient city of Myra, located a
few kilometers out of Demre in the north, was one
of the earliest Lycian cities. Myra was renowned
throughout centuries as the city where St.
Nicholas had lived in the 4C AD. History
of Myra
Although according
to ancient sources the name of Myra only goes
back as early as 1C BC, the inscriptions or
coins found imply that it must have been from the
5C BC. Myra was always one of the most
important cities in Lycia, and during the
Hellenistic period was one of the six cities in
the Lycian League that had the maximum quota of
three votes at meetings of the federation.
When St. Paul was
being taken as a prisoner to Rome in 60 AD,
his ship called at Myra.
In the Byzantine
period Myra was a prominent city not only for
religious reasons but also from an administrative
point of view. During the reign of
Theodosius II Myra became the capital of
Lycia. However, in the Turkish period it was
abandoned.
The Site
The ruins consist
mainly of a theater and some of the best examples
of Lycian rock-cut tombs. The rest of the city
has not been excavated yet. The acropolis, as
expected, is at the top of the hill.
The Roman
Theater is well preserved. In the center of
the two-meter-high wall (6.5 ft) backing the
diazoma, near the stairs leading to the upper
rows is a figure of Tyche, the Goddess of
fortune, with an inscription "Victory and
good fortune to the city beneath". The
stage building, like in all Roman theaters, is
very ornate.
The 4C BC
Rock-cut Tombs, some with temple facades and
beautifully carved reliefs representing the dead
and their families or warriors, are among the
most fascinating remains of Anatolia.
Inscriptions are usually in Lycian. These house
types are believed to have copied the dwellings
of the early inhabitants of the region.
Climbing up the
tombs is dangerous and not allowed.
St.
Nicholas
(c.300-350 AD)
Saint Nicholas was
born in Patara and became the bishop of the
Christian church of Myra, in Lycia, about whom
little is known with certainty. His reputation
for generosity and compassion is best exemplified
in the legend that relates how Nicholas saved a
poor man from a life of prostituting his three
daughters. On three separate occasions the bishop
is said to have tossed a bag of gold through the
family’s window, thus providing a dowry to
procure for each daughter an honorable marriage.
The story provides the foundation for the custom,
still practiced in many countries, of giving
gifts in celebration of the saint’s day,
which was December 6. Saint Nicholas is the
patron saint of children and sailors. Variations
of his name range from Sant Nikolaas to Sante
Klaas to Santa Claus; he is known as Father
Christmas in England, Grandfather Frost in
Russia, Pere Noel in France and Saint Nick in the
United States.
Noel Baba Kilisesi
(The Church of St. Nicholas)
St. Nicholas was
buried in a tomb outside the city of Myra over
which a chapel was subsequently erected. In the
6C it was replaced by a large church. This church
is located in the town of Demre. The building was
damaged by the Arab raids then repaired and
surrounded with walls by Constantine IX and
the Empress Zoë in the 11C. At the end of the
11C Italians from Bari stole the bones of St.
Nicholas breaking his sarcophagus and built a
famous pilgrimage church over his mortal remains
in Bari. Several relics of St. Nicholas such as
fragments of his jawbone and skull, are today
kept in the Archeological Museum of Antalya. In
the museum each year on December 6, the
commemoration day of the saint, the Turkish
government sponsors a St. Nicholas symposium
attended by both scholars and clerics. On the
same day a religious service is held in the
church of St. Nicholas in Demre.
The church in
Demre was restored a few times in the 19C and
20C. It has gained more popularity since 1950
because of its association with Santa Claus. The
church is preceded by an atrium and a double
narthex. The walls were covered with 11C and 12C
frescoes fragments of which are still visible.
The floor was decorated with mosaics of geometric
designs. In the apse of the central nave is the synthronon,
semicircular rows of seats for the clergy, with a
special place for the bishop’s throne and a
walkway underneath. The central nave is separated
from the side aisles by arcades. The roof was
originally domed but covered with a vault during
restorations.
The south aisle of
the church, between two pillars and behind a
broken marble screen, contains a damaged
sarcophagus in which St. Nicholas is thought to
have been buried. The lid does not belong to the
sarcophagus. Where St. Nicholas was actually
buried is still unknown. However, the
processional way that led directly to the second
south aisle was perhaps intended for pilgrims
visiting the tomb.
In the niches of
aisles are a number of 2C AD Roman marble
sarcophagi taken there from Myra and reused for
the entombment of church dignitaries. In the
narthex there is a fresco depicting Deesis.
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