Myra, ancient Greek city, now part of Antalya, Turkey

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Myra, ancient Greek city, now part of Antalya, Turkey
Myra, ancient Greek city, now part of Antalya, Turkey

Myra (Ancient Greek: Μύρα, Mýra) was a Lycian, then ancient Greek, then Greco-Roman, then Byzantine Greek, then Ottoman town in Lycia, which became the small Turkish town of Kale, renamed Demre in 2005, in the present-day Antalya Province of Turkey. In 1923, its Greek inhabitants had been required to leave by the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, at which time its church was finally abandoned. It was founded on the river Myros (Ancient Greek: Μύρος; Turkish: Demre Çay), in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.

History
Rock-cut tombs in Myra
Although some scholars equate Myra with the town, of Mira, in Arzawa, there is no proof for the connection.[citation needed] There is no substantiated written reference for Myra before it was listed as a member of the Lycian League (168 BC–AD 43); according to Strabo (14:665), it was one of the largest towns of the alliance.

The ancient Greek citizens worshiped Artemis Eleutheria, who was the protective goddess of the town. Zeus, Athena and Tyche were venerated as well. Pliny the Elder writes that in Myra there was the spring of Apollo called Curium and when summoned three times by the pipe the fishes come to give oracular responses.[1] In the Roman period, Myra formed a part of the Koine Greek speaking world that rapidly embraced Christianity. One of its early Greek bishops was Saint Nicholas.

Alluvial silts mostly cover the ruins of the Lycian and Roman towns. The acropolis on the Demre-plateau, the Roman theatre and the Roman baths (eski hamam) have been partly excavated. The semi-circular theatre was destroyed in an earthquake in 141, but rebuilt afterward.

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Taken on: October 27, 2023
Sets appears in:   • Lycia, Turkey   
Groups appears in:   • Archaeology Travel Photos    • Turkish Lovers Group    more » • Archaeology    • Archaeology & Associated    • Türkiye Resim, Fotoğraf ve Video Paylaşımı    • Turkey on postcards    • The Archeology and The Historical places of Ancient Turkey    • Travel Turkey    « less
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