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Myra is an ancient town in Lycia , where the small town of Kale ( Demre ) is situated today in present day Antalya Province of Turkey . It was located on the river Myros ( Demre Çay ), in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dag, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea .
Historical evidence
Although some scholars equate Myra with the town Mira in Arzawa , 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 (14:665) it was one of the largest towns of the alliance.
The Greek people|Greek citizens worshipped Artemis Eleutheria , who was the protective goddess of the town. Zeus , Athena and Tyche were venerated as well.
The ruins of the Lycian and Roman town are mostly covered by alluvial silts. The Acropolis on the Demre-plateau, the Roman theatre and the Roman baths ( eski hamam ) have been partly excavated. The semi-circular theater was destroyed in an earthquake in 141, but rebuilt afterwards.
There are two necropolis|necropoli of Lycian 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& nbsp;km up the Demre Cayi from the theater) is the "Lion's tomb,"also called the "Painted Tomb." When the traveller Charles Fellows 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.Gerhard Forstenpointer, et al., "Purple-Dye Production in Lycia – Results of an Archaeozoological Field Survey in Andriake (South-west Turkey)." Oxford Journal of Archaeology 26, 2 (2007):201–214.
In early Christian times, Myra was the metropolis (religious jurisdiction)|metropolis of Lycia . The town is traditionally associated with Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul , who changed ships in its harbor. Saint Nicholas of Myra was the bishop of Myra in the 4th century, is said to have been an ardent opponent of Arianism at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, although his name does not appear among the signatories of that council. Myra became the capital of the Byzantine Eparchy of Lycia under Theodosius II , who reigned from 408 to 450.
Siege of 809
After a siege in 809, Myra fell to Abbasid troops under Caliph Harun al-Rashid . The town went into a decline afterwards. Early in the reign of Alexius I Comnenus (ruled between 1081 and 1118), Myra was again overtaken by Islamic invaders, this time the Seljuk Turks . In the confusion, sailors from Bari in Italy seized the relic s of Saint Nicholas, over the objections of the monk 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 to Saint Nicholas.
The church of St. Nicholas at Myra
main|Saint Nicholasmain|St. Nicholas Church, Demre 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 was added in the second half of the 11th century.
In 1863, Tsar Alexander II of Russia 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#Confession as remains of a Saint|confessio (tomb) of St. Nicholas was roofed over.
The floor of the church is made of opus sectile , a mosaic of coloured marble, and there are some remains of fresco es on the walls. An ancient Greek marble sarcophagus had been reused to bury the Saint; but his bones were stolen in 1087 by merchants from Bari , and are now held in the Basilica di San Nicola (Bari)|cathedral of that city .
The church is currently undergoing restoration. In 2007 the Turkish Ministry of Culture gave permission for the Divine Liturgy to be celebrated in the church for the first time in centuries. On 6 December 2011 Metropolitan Chrysostomos, who has the title of Myra, accordingly officiated (source: romfea.gr).
References
Reflist
External links
Commons category|Demre-Myra
http://www.kultur.gov.tr/portal/arkeoloji_en.asp? belgeno=1899 Notes on Myra at Turkish Ministry of Culture site
http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/myra.htm Sites in Myra
http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/gallery/myra 70 pictures of the classical city, with link to 130 pictures of Saint Nicholas church
coord|36|15|47|N|29|58|37|E|type:landmark_region:TR|display=titleChristmasFormer settlements in Turkey Category:Archaeological sites in Turkey Category:Ancient Greek cities Category:Roman sites in Turkey Category:Anatolia Category:Lycia Category:New Testament places Category:Former populated places in Turkey Category:Antalya Province Category:Visitor attractions in Antalya Province Category:History of Antalya Province
