A well-paved road leads to Myra, which is famous for its striking rock tombs. This place is between Kaş, in Antalya’s Kale (Demre) township, and Finike. Myra was an important Lycian city in the Middle Ages and St. Nicholas served as a bishop in the city. Lycia means “the place of the sacred Mother Goddess.” Myra, or “Myrrh” in the Lycian language, was set up on the coastal side of the mountains with a wall on the northwestern side of the Demre valley. First, the city that was built on today’s rock tombs on top of the hill expanded towards lower parts of the hill and it became one of the most important six cities of Lycia. The first coins of the city in the fourth century B.C bore pictures of the Mother Goddess. Although old sources date Myra to the first century B.C., it is understood from coins and rock tombs that the city existed as early as the fifth century B.C.
The Myros River (Demre Çayi), which flows across the city, helped the development of naval maritime trade but also left the city vulnerable to pirate raids. At their port of Andriake, the Myrians tried to put a stop to these raids by putting a chain across the river’s mouth to the sea. Brutus, famous for killing Julius Caesar in 42 B.C, came to Lycia to gather soldiers and after they conquered Xanthos, he sent his commander Lentulus to Myra to collect tribute. The Myrians resisted this and tried to defend themselves, but the commander broke the chains across the river’s mouth and managed to enter the city. In 18 A.D., the adopted son of Tiberius, Germanicus, along with his wife Agrippina visited here and the Myrians showed their respect for them by erecting sculptures of the couple at their Andriake port. In 60 A.D., St. Paul changed ships in Myra on his way to Rome. Old sources tell about ship tours between Myra and Limyra.
Myra, the metropolis of the Lycian Union, developed greatly in the second century A.D. and many buildings were constructed with the financial assistance of the wealthy people of Lycia. One of these individuals, Licinius Langus from Oinoanda, had a theater and portico built by donating 10,000 dinars. Inscriptions tell us that Jason from Rhodiapolis and Kyeanail also made great contributions to Myra’s development. During the time of Theodosius II (408-450), when St. Nicholas served as an archbishop, Myra was the capital of the Lycian region. Starting in the seventh century, the city was raided by Arabs until the ninth century. Finally in 809, one of the commanders of the Caliph Harun el-Rashid gained control of the city. The Church of St. Nicholas was demolished in 1034 during an attack of Arabs from the sea.
Most inhabitants of Myra left the city because of the Arab raids and because of the Myros Stream’s frequent floods which filled some of the buildings with mud. Myra soon turned into a village. When Turks first came to the area, Myra had shrunk into a very small place indeed.
Nothing much is left of the acropolis on the mountain behind theater. In 1842, Spratt visited Myra and climbed to the acropolis, and he saw nothing but small rocks. There are remains of walls in the Roman rampart which survived from Hellenistic times and even from the fifth century B.C. On the way to the city, at the end of the road you’ll see remains of a Turkish-style bath and a basilica that were built in later times.
Myra’s water needs were met by water channels carved into rocks in the valley where the Demre Stream flows. These channels are still visible even in our day. Other structures of Myra remain hidden beneath the earth waiting for their new day in the sun. On the way to Myra, in the Karabucak area, you will notice a well-preserved Roman mausoleum. There is an ancient city, Sura, near Myra’s port Andriake and this city was famous for being a center for prophecy and soothsaying. A few kilometers away from Sura, there is the Trebenda ancient city in Gurses. Now let’s take a look at theater, the tomb rocks and the St. Nicholas Church.
Myra’s splendid theater has survived to our day and it is still in good shape. Behind it, the cavea of the theater located on the steep side of the mountain is mostly carved into rocks. The theater was later used as an arena, and so some changes were made to it. In Myra, which owes its fame to its rock tombs, these tombs are located mainly in two places: one group right on top of theater and the other in the river necropolis on the eastern side
The foundation of Manavgat is not known certain, but estimated at B.C. 200-150. As understood from the early documents, cargo and human transportation had been made on the river, from the very first centuries till recent years. Manavgat has become a village of Turkish Republic at 1913.
In the Northern part of the river Manavgat there is the Lake of Oymapınar Dam. It was built in the deep valley of the river in the Taurus Mountains. The Dam and its surroundings have a unique beauty. The region is one of the places for Jeep Safaris the plain of Manavgat, which is 2500 m2. is the most fertile plain of the province Antalya and is suitable for growing cotton, wheat, barley and 45 different kinds of fruit and vegetables. Fruit and vegetables growing in greenhousees in an important from of farming in the region. Greenhouse flowering has also improved recently. In the far East of the plain bananas are grown in the gardens. Trout and shrimps are bred in some parts of the river. During the recent years parallel to the growth of tourism, losts of modern hotel motels and holiday villages have been built in the region o Sorgun and Titreyengöl. The history of the town is known to be very old and it is believed that the name Manavgat comesfrom the word “Munouwa” in the old language of luwi, meaning temple of matrilineal Goddess.
Limyra is an antique city established on the Finike Plain, 110 km from Antalya and 6 km. from the sea, on the slopes of Tocak Mountain and in the middle of natural springs. The ancient name of the city was Zemuri. Limyra, and can be reached by following the road from the slope of Tocak Mountain, passing through orange gardens, and welcoming you with its rock tombs. The city is located around Acicay (Ad River), whose source originates from a spring near a rock tomb. Starting an opposition against the Persians, and claiming their rights to Lykia at the beginning of the fourth century BC, Tyrant Perikles chose Limyra as the capital city. Heroon, found during excavations under the Acropolis, is the tomb of Tyrant Perikles. Presumably, sea journeys between ancient Myra (today called Demre) and Limyra, in historical times, were made over Limyros, formed by the Limyra springs.
The region, west of the line between the north edge of Antalya Bay and Fethiye (Telmessos) was called Lykia in ancient times. The coastline in the Lykia region has a complex structure, allowing ships to dock, contrary to the other coastline area in Pamphylia. Therefore, you may find ruins next to each bay along this coastline. Works from the Bronze Age, were found in Semahiiyuk, near Elmali, in the inner parts of the region…
It is near Kumluova Village at 65th km of Fethiye – Kas highway. In accordance with a story told by the poet Ovidius, the city was established in the name of Leto, who became pregnant from Zeus. The traces of old settlement in the city goes back to 7th century BC. The ruins and the inscriptions obtained show that this place was a religious and political area. There are three temples at the center of the ruin place side by side. The one at the most northern direction is devoted to Leto, the one in the middle is devoted to Artemis and the one in the south is devoted to Apollo. In the southwest of the temples, there is a fountain building and just beside it, there is a church. In the northern side of the city, there is a Stoa and a theater, which gives its rear side to the natural slope partially, belonging to the Hellenistic Period. Letoon has been left in the 7th century AD.
The Kalkan you see today was settled 150 to 200 years ago by people of both Greek and Turkish origin subject to the Ottoman Empire. Camels brought goods to Kalkan from the nearby Xanthos valley and from as far away as the mountain highlands near Elmali. Cargo ships were then loaded in Kalkan’s harbour to sail for the far reaches of the Ottoman Empire carrying charcoal, silk (you can see many mulberry trees in Kalkan today), olive oil (still produced in Kalkan) and wine, as well as cotton, grain, sesame seed, flour, grapes, acorns used for dye, and lumber from the vast cedar and pine forests.
There are numerous ruins of ancient cities in the district of Gundogmus, 182 km from Antalya. The important ruins are those of Hagiasophia city, 7 km north of Guzel Bag Bucagi, but no excavations have been conducted here. There are also the ruins of Asar at Sumene (7 km from the city centre), Kese (2 km east of the village of Senir) and Gedfi (11 km southwest of Gundogmus).
Finike, a perfect blend of history, nature and sea, is a tourism spot in Antalya Province. The district draws attention with the ruins of Limyra and Arykanda ancient cities. It is also famous for its oranges.
The exact founding date of Elmali, which is located within the borders of ancient Lycia, is unknown. Excavations to the east at Karatas near the village of Semahoyuk, and to the west in the village of Beyler indicate that the area has been inhabited seen the Bronze Age.