Myra Ruins

Myra is a beautiful town of Lycia region where small town of Kale is situated in Antalya province. Located on River Myros, this place lies in between Alaca Dağ village, Massikytos range, and Aegean Sea. The site ruins are mostly covered by alluvial silts. Some of the sites, such as Acropolis, situated on the Demre-plateau, Roman baths (eski hamam), and Roman theatre have been partly excavated. As the history of this place goes, Myra was a leading city of the Lycian Union and has even surpassed Xanthos in Byzantine era to become the capital of Lycia. There has been literary mention of the city before 1st century BC but the defensive city wall is said to date back to 5th century BC.
Some tourist attractions include amphitheater, rock-cut tombs, and church of St. Nicholas. This Greco-Roman theater is the largest one in Lycia. With its double-vaulted corridors, rows and rows of seats, and grand façade decorated with theatrical masks, the place is well-preserved. The rock-cut tombs can be divided into two groups, one above the theatre and the other on a place called river necropolis. As you go westward from here, you will see steep cliff with a number of rock-cut tombs in asymmetric pattern. Built one above the other in cliffs, they are a strange sight. Although the tombs that we see today are plain, it was reported by Charles Fellows that when he discovered them in 1840, they were in bright hues of blue, yellow, and red. The ruins can be visited from Demre which is 90 miles from Antalya. You can catch a bus, which will run along the coast from Antalya. The visiting hours for ruins are from 9 am to 7 pm daily.