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Demre is a district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
Demre is the Ancient Greek town of Myra, the home of Saint Nicholas of Myra the original Santa Claus.
The district was known as Kale until it was renamed in 2005.
Myra is an ancient Lycian town, 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 Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.
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 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 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 best known tomb in the river-necropolis is the "Lion's 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.
In early Christian times, Myra was the metropolis of Lydia. The town is traditionally associated with Saint Paul, who changed ships in its harbor. Saint Nicholas of Myra was a bishop of Myra in the 4th century, who countered Arianism at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. It became the Capital of the Byzantine Eparchy Lycia under Theodosius II, who reigned from 408 to 450.
After a siege in 809, Myra fell to Arab troops under Harun al-Rashid. The town went into a decline afterwards. Early in the reign of Alexius I Comnenus (ruled between 1081 - 1118), Myra was again overtaken by Islamic invaders, this time the Seljuks. In the confusion, sailors from Bari, Italy seized the remains of Saint Nicholas, over the objections of the monks caring for them, and spirited the bones away to Bari, where they arrived on May 9, 1087, and soon brought that city visitors making the pilgrimage to Saint Nicholas.
The earliest church of St. Nicholas at Myra was built in the 6th century. The present-day church stems mainly from the 8th century; a monastery was added in the second half of the 11th century.
In 1863 Czar Alexander II of Russia bought the building and started to have it restored, but the work was never finished. In 1963 the eastern and southern sides of the church was excavated, in 1968 the former burial 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 wall-paintings. A Greek marble sarcophagus had been reused to bury the Saint, but his bones were stolen in 1087 by merchants from Bari, and now held in the cathedral of that city.
Demre is on the coast of the Teke peninsula, west of the bay of Antalya, with the Taurus Mountains behind. The moutains are forested and the coastal strip is made of good soil brought down by the mountain rivers. The climate is the typical Mediterranean pattern of hot dry summers and warm wet winters.
Before tourism boom began in the 1980s the local economy depended on agriculture, which is still important today. The villages of Demre grow pomegranates and citrus fruits and now a large quantity of fruits and vegetables all year round in glass houses. Also with its rich history, attractions like the island of Kekova, the sea and warm weather this coast is very popular with holidaymakers from Turkey and all over Europe, although Demre still does not have the high volume of tourists enjoyed by districts nearer Antalya airport. Some local handicrafts like rug making, and events such as the annual camel-wrestling festival bring in extra income.
The local cuisine predictably includes fish and seafood from the Mediterranean.
History
The foundation date of Myra is not known exactly. However, the archaeological data, obtained from the researches in the grave reliefs with regard to style, indicates that the city has existed in the 5th century before Hellenistic Period. The city experienced its golden period during the 2nd century AD. Myra, completely destroyed by the earthquake in 141 AD., was rebuilt by the charities of the rich Opromaos from Radiopolis and Lucius Magnun, Roman Proconsul. Artemis Eleutera Sacred Place in the city was also rebuilt. Having been renovated in this period, the theatre with its ornaments was characterised as a wonder of the world in the Late Antique Period. Some of the numerous masks ornamenting this stage building are exhibited in the Demre Museum and some in the Antalya Museum.
During the reign of Theodosius II (408-450 AD.), the city became the Metropolitan of the Lycians. In this period, the reputation of the city as the centre of pilgrimage where diseases having been cured spread not only in Lycia but also throughout the Christian World. The reason for this is that Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) has lived here in Myra in this period.
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