MYRA (DEMRE)

MYRA (DEMRE)

Myra is an ancient Lycian city located in the region of the castle (Demre). Alacadağ is located on the Aegean Sea and the Akdag (Massikytos) line.

Myra Excavations started and continued in 2009 under Nevzat Cevik presidency. In 2010, a comprehensive book was published by the excavation team. According to Agile, Myra's early name was Muri. Some researchers believe that Myra is the same settlement as Arzawa's Mira, but there is no proven connection. Myra has no written source about Myra before being a member of the Lycian alliance (168-43 BC); According to Strabo (14: 665), he was one of the greatest cities of the alliance.

The Greek people worshiped in the city of Artemis Eleutheria, the guardian goddess of the city. Zeus, Athena and Tike were also worshiped.

Most of the ruins of the city belong to the Lycian and Roman periods. The acropolis on the mountain has been destroyed to a great extent. Near the theater there are late-time residences that can be baths and basilica. The open-air theater was destroyed in an earthquake in 141 was re-built later.

Rock graves in Myra.

There are two Lycian necropolis in Myra, which are gathered in the area called the river necropolis on the rocks above the sea. Most of the rock tombs look like a big house from a distance, and some are temple-shaped. The most striking grave of the river is the necropolis is the "Tomb of the Painting" which Charles Fellows said when he saw the rock tombs in 1840 that he still could choose the colors red, yellow, blue and purple. Today these colors are invisible only in the red and blue colors. Another highlight in this grave is eleven figures of human figures made in relief on actual scale.

The Myrrh harbors used a chain in the river to protect Andriake against the pirates' raids. This chain was broken in 42 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, when Lentulus Spinther, who was sent to Myra to collect money, entered the city.

In the early days of Christianity Myra was the metropolis of Lycia. St. Paul changes ships in his port when he goes to Rome in 60 AD. Saint Nicholaos, now known as Santa Claus, was the bishop of Myra in the 4th century. Between the years 408 and 450, which was the head of the empire II. It is known that St. Nicholas was the archbishopric in Myra at the time of Teodosius and Myra was the capital of Lycia.

Sieges

Saint Nicholas of Myrdal rescues the Three Innocents from Death (Ilya Repin's oil painting, 1888, Russian State Museum).

After the siege in 809, Myra Abbasi was seized by troops under the command of Harun Rashid. In the following years, the city entered a period of decline. In 1034, the end of the attack on the sea by the Arabs in the Church of Santa Claus was damaged. At the beginning of the period A. Alexios Komnenos (1081 - 1118), Myra was seized by the Seljuks this time. The mariners of Bari who took advantage of the disconcerting received the bones of Saint Nicholas on 20 April 1087 and brought them to Bari on 9 May 1087, although the objections of the priests in the church.

St. Nicholas Church

The true grave of St. Nicholas in the basilica of Myra.

St. Nicholas Church in Myra was built on the death of St. Nicholas Church. Nicholas in the 6th century. The church today is basically built from the 8th century; In the second half of the 11th century a monastery was added. In 1863, the Russian Criminal II. Aleksandr has acquired the building and the surrounding area from the Ottoman State and began restoration work, but later the Ottoman State took back the region and the church and gave the Risse permission to do just restoration. Restoration work was done so badly as to ruin the church, and in 1876 the bell tower, which is still visible today, was added. In 1963 the eastern and western parts of the church were removed from underground. In the year 1968, St. Nicholas's sarcophagus, which was destroyed in 1087, was unearthed.