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).
Frankly i expected much more from here but i cant deny that rock tombs are interesting. Goverment organized the place very well but it seems there are a lot to do in the ruins . Saint nicholas church isvery interesting, he was a real person with miracles and as i understand he's very important especially for orthodox christians. Because of…
Entrance fee is 7 TL. If you are interested in Lycian history, it is worth visiting. The theater & other areas are being restored.
This was an amazing experience transform back in time.
(But put some trainers etc on your feet, I went with flip flops on & regretted it)
The carvings of Roman times & beyond are fab, does make you wonder how they did it all. The amphitheater actually echo's our lovely guide even sang us a love song which was good.
We went to Myra by way of fairly undae roads but the trip was well worth it.
This was probably the best set of Ruins we saw in this area of Turkey.
The village of Myra also had the Basillica of St. Nicholas which was also very interesting to visit.
Definitely worthy of a visit if you are staying in…
We visited Myra on a drive from Antalya to Kas. Because we had made so many stops along the way – Phaselis, gozleme restaurant, bathing in a small cove, Suluklu beach – we only reached Myra tombs close to 7 pm. We had read reviews about the crowds, etc. so that was ok, we only planned on a quick stop…
I asked the official local representative of my dutch travelagency information about a trip to demre myra for a group of 10 people.(including transport for whole day, tourguide whole day, boat trip with glass boat to an underwater city, entrance to the kings tombes in Myra and lunch) offered price for 10 persons 500 Euro. After this i went to…
St Nicholas church is somewhat subterrainian as the main town of Demre now sits at a higher level than the church.
A place of pilgrimage for Russians, as their patron saint – the vast majority of visitors when we were there were Russian (I was wearing a maxi dress and covered my shoulders – but the Russians also cover their…
The ampitheater was in good shape and the rock tombs were also quite amazing. Of course I was mildly disappointed that we weren't able to explore the rock tombs. I understand the danger, or the fact that many tourists don't take enough care and ultimately might ruin it for others. I understand the idea is to preserve, but yet, you…
It’s just amazing when i think and saw how the people lived about two tousend years ago. Such a great historical site. It’s forbiden to climb up to rock tombs carved on a mountain face. It’s really steep and can be dangerous but easy to take photos from the ground. The amphitheatre is still standing and in good shape. The…
Those rock cut tombs are not unique, can be seen in many places. Theatre was OK. Do not expect to see a lot of ruins.