Myra is one of the ancient coastal cities of the Guif of Antalya visited by Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus (Acts 27:5-6). It is where as prisoners they changed boats on their way to Rome in 60 or 61 AD. In Myra the centurion Julius found a ship from Alexandria headed to Italy by way of Cnidus. They had hard sailing throughout the whole trip; Luke’s account speaks of headwinds from Sidon to Myra, slow headway to Cnidus, wind continuing against them to Crete, and the fierce northeastern Boreas that raged for days on end and finally shipwrecked them in Malta.
For foreigners the most interesting ruin in Myra today is the Church of St. Nicholas built over the tomb of the saint who was martyred during the reign of Diocletian. The church is not much to look at. Its foundations go back to the fourth century when Nicholas was bishop of Myra. During the invasions of the Saracens in the eleventh century the saint’s bones may have been moved to Bari in southern Italy where his fame increased. In fact, he is known as Nicholas of Bari in many parts of the world. He is the patron saint of the Russian, Greek, and Sicilian people, of children, and of sailors. (Myra was the seat of the god of pagan sailors also.)
The legend about St. Nicholas in Myra concerns a poor man who had three marriageable daughters but no way to provide their necessary dowries. St. Nicholas clipped under their window one night and tossed three purses of gold into the house to save them from prostitution. These three purses have become the three gold balls identifying a pawnbroker’s shop. This custom of giving gifts in secret, first observed on the eve of his day, December 6, was moved to December 25 and his name corrupted to Santa Claus.
In addition to the ruins of the church there is a Roman theater in Myra and an unusual rock necropolis.
Rock Cut Tombs in Myra.
The original tomb of St. Nicholas at the Basilica in Myra.
Saint Nicholas of Myra Saves Three Innocents from Death (oil painting by Ilya Repin, 1888, State Russian Museum).
We visited this site with my family this past Sept 2006 and had a great day. Wonderful to walk up into the ruins and visit the theater. I must apologize that my camera seems to over expose the pictures in bright sun light so my pictures are not a great as I would like them to be.
Myra is located…
The best part of this visit is the drive from Antalya. The church is a major pilgrimage site for Russians during the high season. Take your time driving here and the same going back to Antalya.
Many people (like us) reached Myra by bus, having disembarked from a gulet in the nearby bay.
We reached there about 11am – probably peak time for the tourist buses – but in September it wasn't too bad. As with the church of St. Nicholas, we think most of the other visitors were Russian – but we happily took photo's…
Demre is a place of pilgrimage, famous church of St. Nicholas, which is currently under construction. A very spiritual place, it seems, there can spend a whole day just holding on to cool the column or leaning against any stone. St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), who lived in the 4 century, was the bishop of Myra, and famous for the generosity…
Interesting to see but there are a lot of these scattered around the country.
We thought we should visit as we were near, but were disappointed. The entrance was through a market of pushy traders, we paid 14 TL entrance fee, had to stand aside for the rush of coach loads of noisy tourists on a mission to get the snapshot they wanted regardless of others and suffer the most disgusting toilet facilities we…
We are sure that all children except those from Turkey believe that Father Xmas does live at the North Pole.
Go to Demre and really see wher he comes from!
If you're passing through Myra en route to another destination it is worth the stop. The site is interesting and has some very nice views, however it is crowded with tourists who jump over the safety fences to get good photos, and in doing so they are damaging the ruins. There are annoying touts all along the way to the…
The tombs have carved fronts so they look like temples in the face of the rock wall. Right next door is a Roman theater. One admission fee gets you to both.
it's nice but i personally wanted to see them closer, maybe they think to build stairs and view balcoon. You cant see the relievos which is told in audio tours from that distance.