Myra

🏛️ Myra: the Lycian city carved into the rock

📍 Location

• Myra is located near the modern town of Demre, in the province ofAntalya, in the southwest of Turkey.
• Nestled between the sea and the mountains, it was one of the six great cities of the Lycian confederation, with a major political and religious role.

🧬 Origins and history

• Founded around the 5th century BC, Myra was successively Lycian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine.
• It prospered thanks to its strategic position on the trade routes between Europe and Asia Minor.
• Its ancient port, Andriake, located a few kilometers away, ensured maritime trade and strengthened its influence.

🪨 Lycian rock tombs

• One of the most spectacular elements of the site: the necropolises dug into the cliffs, overlooking the valley.
• These tombs imitate multi-story houses, with sculpted facades, the symbolic doors, and sometimes funerary reliefs.
• They bear witness to the Lycian beliefs around death, where the deceased were believed to reach the afterlife by rising to the heavens.

🎭 The ancient theater

• Built into the hillside, this Roman theater could accommodate up to 11,000 spectators.
• It is remarkably well preserved: stands, stage, access corridors, and decorative elements are still visible.
• It served the performances, ceremonies and civic gatherings, in a city where culture occupied a central place.

⛪ Saint Nicholas Church

• Near the site, in Demre, is theByzantine church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra in the 4th century.
• This historical figure is at the origin of the legend of the Santa Claus, and his tomb still attracts many pilgrims.
• The church houses ancient frescoes, the carved columns, and an atmosphere imbued with spirituality.

🧘‍♂️ Why Myra is unique

It is a place where the stone becomes memory, where the cliffs tell of life and death, and where the sacred crosses the centuries. Myra is poetic, majestic and deeply Mediterranean — a city suspended between sky, sea and history.