Myra and the Church of Saint Nicholas

Lycian Rock Cut Necropolis And Roman Theatre, With The 6th Century Burial Church Of Saint Nicholas 400 Metres Away; Both On The UNESCO Tentative List · Demre, Antalya

Two things sit four hundred metres apart in a town of plastic greenhouses. The first is the cliff above ancient Myra, carved into a honeycomb of Lycian rock tombs cut to look like timber houses, with a Roman theatre at its foot whose fallen blocks carry theatrical masks a metre across - and, under it, a whole buried Roman city that excavation has only recently begun to reach. The second is a low Byzantine basilica built over the grave of the fourth-century bishop of Myra, Nicholas, whose reputation for secret gift-giving travelled to the Netherlands and came back as Santa Claus. His relics were stolen by Italian merchants in 1087 and are in Bari; what remains is a broken sarcophagus, some good Byzantine floor mosaic and frescoes, and a working Orthodox pilgrimage that fills the church every December. The town around them, Demre, is a sea of greenhouse plastic, which is a jolt if nobody warns you.

Myra Oren Yeri, Demre, Antalya, Demre, Antalya, Turkiye

Both sites open daily with longer summer hours and an earlier winter close, and each has its own ticket. The church has been under a large protective canopy with excavation and conservation work running, which restricts parts of it from season to season. Orthodox pilgrim groups fill the church around 6 December. Check what is open before travelling.

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