1. Geographical location – topography
Geographically speaking, Myra was a privileged city. It was situated on the alluvial plain formed by the estuary of the river Myros (Demre Çay) towards the Aegean Sea and it was protected by the Massicytus range (Alaca Dağ). The remains of the city are located at a distance of about 1.5 kms from the modern village of Demre. In the past, as well as today, the spinal cord of the local economy was agriculture, since the soil is particularly fertile and suitable especially for production of fruit and vegetables. The port of Myra, namely Andriake, which lay at a distance of 5 klms southwest of the city, secured the unhindered transportation of products to other areas, thus maintaining the commercial activity in high levels.
The territory (chora) of Myra expanded during the Roman period, and came to incorporate formerly independent small cities, such as Tyberissos, Teimioussa, Istlada, the sites known today as Gürses, Muskar, Dereağzı and the site of Sura, where the sanctuary of Apollo lay, as well as the little island of Kekova, with its settlement of considerable size.
The eastern neighbour of Myra was Limyra, yet another important Lycian city. The land road which connected the two cities was very narrow and steep and unsuitable for transportation with animals and carriages. Therefore a regular communication by ship had been established.
2. Historical background
The exact date and conditions of the foundation of the city are not known, as the area has not been systematically excavated. The place name is mentioned for the first time by Strabo.1 Parts of a defensive wall, however, which have been archaeologically traced, are dated in the 5th century B.C. The etymology of the place-name is probably Lycian, although in the 5th century there was an attempt to connect the root of the name with the production of myrrh. Despite the mentions of Constantine Porphyrogennitus, however, no myrrh seems to have been produced in the area.2
2.1. Hellenistic Period
Literary sources do not reveal information on the history and evolution of the city during the Hellenistic period. However, from the sparse epigraphic and the more abundant numismatic evidence it is concluded that already in the 3rd century the city had become one of the six Lycian cities which had the right of three votes in the Lycian League. In the next century the city issued not only its own coins, but also those of the broader Massicytos region.3 The city functioned as a customs’ station for the entire Lycian region,4 whereas the League had appointed it as organizer of some of the communal religious festivals.
The sanctuary of Artemis Eleuthera had acquired an enormous fame and prestige, as it was considered as the most beautiful building in whole Lycia. Unfortunately nothing survives from the building, nor from mentions in literary sources, particularly those of travelers.5
2.2. Roman Period
Myra maintained its special economic and political position it had acquired during the Late Hellenistic period. Initially the city was negatively disposed towards the Romans, as one deduces from the fact that in 42 B.C. the city refused entry to Lentulus Spinther, tax-collector dispatched by Vrutus; the latter had to break the chain which barred the entrance to the port of Andriake and threatened the city. After this incident, however, the citizens apparently realized the Roman superiority, and thus collaborated. In 18 AD Caesar Germanicus with his wife Agrippina visited the city, which dedicated statues in Andriake to honour them. The good relations of the citizens of Myra with the Roman authorities seem to have come to the formers’ advantage, since the archaeological remains attest to a great flourishing during the Roman era. Some of the most important still visible monuments in the city, such as the theatre and Hadrian’s granary close to Andriake, are dated in the 1st-2nd century, whereas great benefactors such as Opramoas from Rhodiapolis, Jason from Cyaneai or Licinius Longus from Oinoanda happily funded those impressive public buildings and supported the city whenever it suffered destructions from natural causes.
An interesting inscription offers the information that between Myra and Limyra, due to the aforementioned difficulty in land transportation, there was established a regular boat connection. The taxes from the function of this ferry connection were farmed to entrepreneurs by the Roman state. However, the income was not as high as expected, and therefore the inscription refers to penalties pronounced for those who performed rivaling ferry connections illegally, with their own boats.
3. Archaeological data
The archaeological site of Myra and the port of Andriake is rather extended. Systematic excavation has not yet taken place. However, some remains are still visible, mainly buildings carved on rocks.
3.1. The visible remains of Myra and Andriake
The acropolis of Myra is situated on a steep rocky hill behind the theatre. The fortifications reveal two phases of construction, an early Hellenistic (end of the 4th century B.C.) and a Roman one. To the east of the acropolis and the theatre is probably situated the city market. This is at least how archaeologists have identified the square enclosure, within which later on was built a Christian monastery. According to Spratt and Forbes6 who visited Myra around the middle of the 19th century, the walls of the enclosure were dated in the Roman period with an arched opening on the southern wall and a gate on the eastern wall. Borchhardt, however, expresses some doubt for this identification and notices that the building could have served military purposes.7
Among the other remains of the city stand out those of the theatre and of two large groups of rock-cut tombs to which reference is made below.
As far as the port of Andriake is concerned, the sources either consider it as an autonomous city or as part of Myra. Its name, Andriake, originates probably from the river Androcus, on the estuary of which the settlement was built. Today the whole area is covered by the alluvial mud of the river.8 The houses were all situated on the southern part of the port. All the houses were of the same architectural type, built with rubble masonry covered with mortar. Behind the houses there was a rectangular market with colonnade, from which some columns and parts of the walls are still visible today. In the centre of the marketplace there was a water tank, roofed and surrounded by columns.
One of the most important buildings of the port was the granary, which dates from the Hadrianic period, namely in 129. It measures 65 by 32 meters and consists of 8 interconnected rooms. The façade was built of ashlar masonry and bore a dedicatory inscription, as well as the sculpted portraits of Hadrian and his wife, Sabina. On the two ends of the façade there were two small square rooms for the guards, since the grain stored there was used mainly for the needs of the army and only a surplus of it found its way to the market. The small rectangular building with the exterior niches just opposite the granary could have been a sanctuary dedicated to Hadrian.
Since the area was arid, water was transported to the port from Myra via an aqueduct, parts of which are still visible on the hill to the right of the street leading from Myra to Andriake. This water, however, was saline and unsuitable for drinking. Drinking water was procured by a spring which was situated on the street leading from Myra to Andriake, roughly at the entrance of the settlement. During the Roman period this fountain was surrounded by a monumental nymphaeum, the remains of which are still visible today and are marked by a combination of niches and apses on the exterior.
Not far from the nymphaeum there was the acropolis of the Andriake, with main type of graves the Lycian or Roman sarcophagi lying on the ground. Several of those sarcophagi were removed throughout the centuries, and the remaining ones are those in the worst state of preservation.
3.2. The theatre
The theatre is perhaps the most impressive building of Myra. It is a proper Roman theatre with a diameter of 110 meters. Its cavea leans against the rock, but is built in its major part. It comprises just one tier with 29 rows of seats below and 6 rows of seats above it. On the wall at the back of the tier names are carved: this was apparently a way to keep one’s place for all performances Another inscription offering a glimpse of daily life from the theatre is the one situated on the wall between the two corridors which separated the orchestra and the cavea; the inscription marked the seat of the vendor Gelasius, who sold food and beverages to the spectators. Another interesting inscription is that on the orchestra floor, according to which Myra was obliged to pay to the Lycian League 7.000 dinars as yearly tribute from customs’ income.
3.3. The Rock-cut tombs
Apart from the theatre, among the major sightseeing attractions nowadays are the rock-cut tombs. Some of them count among the most beautiful and best preserved in the entire Lycian region. The tombs are discerned in two groups. The first one is situated on the rock to the west of the theatre, towards the sea. Part of the tombs consists of small indentations, looking like a beehive, but the majority belongs to the type of aediculae, whereas there are also those whose façade looks like a temple. Among the most important tombs of this group is the tomb F23,9 which bears three depictions in relief: the left one represents a warrior at the process of wearing his military attire, helped by a young boy who hands him over his shield. The middle one represents two naked warriors; one of them leans against his shield, the other one against his spear. The right one, finally, represents a funerary meal in which take part six people. Important is also the tomb F22, which depicts a young warrior, standing and leaning against his shield and spear; a female figure, seated on a diphros, and an elderly man wearing a chiton and cloak are turned towards him. At the right end finally is depicted a young boy with a protruding right foot. The stylistic features resemble those of the Nereid monument in Xanthus and help us date the monument in the second half of the 4th century B.C.
The second group is situated to the Southeast, towards the river Myros. To this second group belongs the so-called “Painted Tomb”,10 on which the traces of painting on the relief representations are clearer than on other tombs. It belongs to the type of tombs-aediculae and in its interior it bears two stone banks along the long sides. In the vestibule one sees to the left a reclining bearded man, raising a cup in order to drink wine. Right opposite him is a seated female figure surrounded by children. A double entrance leads to the interior of the tomb, which was earlier crowned by the depiction of a boy holding a shovel, which was later detached by some 19th-century traveler, and is lies today in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. The same figures as those in the vestibule, but standing and with a more imposing posture are depicted carved on the rock façade of the tomb. It is obvious that both representations depict two aspects of the family life, the private and the public one.
Another tomb of this group (F18), slightly higher than the previous one, depicts a lion devouring a bull on the façade, whereas in the preamble there is the depiction of a family consisting of 8 persons. A frieze depicts imaginary figures, perhaps female and male dancers. The human figures depicted on the tombs are in full-size usually, whereas some traces of colours are slightly discernible.
4. Cults
Possibly the oldest cult in the broader area of Myra was that of Artemis Eleuthera, for which we do not know much. From its iconography on coins we may deduce that it was probably related to the Ephesian Artemis, whereas it is possible that it was considered as a goddess of the forests, as it is depicted in combination with trees or plants. Even more probable though is that the goddess had some of the features of Cybele, i.e. it was in a way a primordial maternal female deity. The sanctuary of Artemis Eleuthera was the most brilliant edifice of Lycia, according to the sources. A destructive earthquake in 141 caused severe damages to the sanctuary and great benefactors of the time, such as Opramoas of Rodiapolis, were motivated for its restoration. However, what nature could not destroy was eliminated by St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra in the 4th century. According to the saint’s life, Nicholas demolished even the foundations of the temple, and then the gathered spectators saw the evil spirits leave the site.
Much better documented is the cult of Apollo Surios, centered on the small settlement-sanctuary of Sura, not far from Myra. The sanctuary was built close to a sacred fountain with fish, which participated at the oracle-giving. Pliny wrote about these ceremonies: “At Myra in Lycia at the fountain of Apollo whom they call Surius, the fish, summoned three times on a pipe, come to give their augury. If they tear the pieces of meat thrown to them, this is good for the client, if they wave it away with their tails, it is bad”.11 The sanctuary of Apollo was built in the small port of the area. In the interior of the temple there are preserved rock-cut inscriptions, which strangely enough bear dedications not to Apollo, but to Sozon, a local rider god, as well as to Zeus Atavyrios, a Rhodian cult. The visible today terrace belongs to the building where the priests lived and which was divided in 12 apartments. Furthermore, the southwestern wall of the acropolis at Sura stands a row of carved stelae, which bear lists with the names of the priests.
5. Christianity at Myra
The relation between Myra and Christianity goes back to the apostolic times, when the apostle Paul, on his way to Rome after he was caught in Jerusalem, disembarked for a short while at Andriake in 60 A.D. However, for the next three centuries the religious life of the city does not appear particularly affected by the Christian doctrines, although a nucleus of Christians must have been formed there. In the first half of the 4th century, though, when bishop of Myra was appointed Nicholas, later on proclaimed a Saint, the balance leaned decisively towards the new religion. Nicholas was determined to eliminate the traces of the old religions and undertook a systematic destruction of temples and sanctuaries, among them the sanctuary of Artemis Eleuthera, the most beautiful Lycian temple. The Life of the Saint was written more than a century after his death; as a result, several inexactitudes and quasi-mythical elements have found their way in it.12 According to the text, Nicholas was born in Patara and from a very tender age had shown his tendency towards monasticism and religious life. In his adolescence he lost his parents and then started giving away his fortune. Several stories are told about his philanthropy, although in some of them are reflected older, pagan myths related to local heroes. It is a fact, though, that Nicholas struggled for the establishment of Christianity during the early 4th century, just as the new religion was vested with a legal mantle, as a result of the religious policy of Constantine the Great and his successors. It is possible that it was him who founded an early Christian temple at the port of Andriake and possibly for this reason he is still today considered as protector of seamen. After his death he was buried within the walls, at a point where slightly later was erected the church dedicated to his church and is still extant. The church was looted for the first time by the Arabs in the 9th century, but the saint protected his tomb and drove away the raiders. In 1087 though, when the Latins intruded the church they managed to locate the tomb of the saint and to snatch the relics, which floated in myrrh, and they transported them to Bari, Italy. Saint Nicholas is one of the most widely accepted saints in all Christian doctrines and in the west he has become the saint-protector of children, otherwise known as Santa-Clauss.