The sarcophagus is empty. In 1087, unscrupulous merchants took
the bones of the holy man who once lay here to Bari in Italy. But
despite that loss, the number of people who make the pilgrimage to
find happiness, health and wealth at the basilica dedicated to
Saint Nicholas never slackens.
It was not until the mid-19th century that Russia's Tsar
Alexander II paid for an archaeological dig at the basilica and had
it restored - the building was buried by mud from the Demre
River.
The ancient town of Myra in Turkey's south-west was one of the
six biggest cities in the Lycian League. Today it bears the same
name as the Demre River.
The authorities in Demre have recognized that there's money to
be made from interest in Saint Nicholas.
A rotund, occidental looking statue of the saint surrounded by
children stands in front of the basilica. A hundred meters further
down the pedestrian zone, past sweet smelling bakeries, stands
another - more colorful - version of the man in shiny white and
red.
"Unfortunately that's Coca Cola's version of Saint Nicholas,"
sighs Nejdet Akaali, a tourist guide.
All the same, most of the traders here have stuck with the
traditional gold decorated icons of the saint as a strict man of
the church, in a rather clumsy looking depiction from the Middle
Ages.
Just outside the city gates lies the archaeological site of
Myra. After passing by the souvenir stalls and paying the 5 Lira (3
yuan) entrance fee, you arrive at a wide compound where the wind
from the sea gently caresses the leaves of the olive and lemon
trees.
At the end of the site is a cliff face with numerous tombs
carved into the rock.
"The Lycians believed that the souls of the dead were taken by
bird-demons into the sky," says Nejdet Akaali. That explains why
most people wanted to be buried as high up the cliff face as
possible.
Myra was once a wealthy port of the Roman empire, but it lost
importance once it fell to the Arabs at the beginning of the 9th
century.
Earthquakes destroyed what was left and much of the empire's
splendor remains buried beneath the Demre and its surrounding
fields. Never quite covered up was the ancient Greek-Roman theater
beside the rock tombs with 32 rows and 7,000 seats.
About 20 km to the west is the town of Aagiz where the
semi-submerged island of Kekova lies.
The road to Kekova straddles the coastline. The deep blue and
light turquoise of the water stands in grand contrast to the rough
plains and mountain cliffs.
A beekeeper waits on the winding avenue that approaches Aagiz,
ready to sell his pine tree honey to anyone who stops.
There are very few houses in the village and most of them are
old. New constructions are not allowed, leading to the growth of
the town in the direction of the sea.
At anchor in the harbor is an armada of wooden excursion boats
and yachts. There are far more of them than the local fishing
vessels whose owners repair their nets on the quay.
The excursion boats take passengers into the bay; in the
distance stands the town of Simena with its ancient fort and small
Roman theater.
Scattered along the hills that skirt the sea are ancient Lycian
tombs in remarkably good condition. These heavy-looking rectangular
tombs have decorated roofs and are a common sight in the
landscape.
Back on land it's time to head east returning through Demre and
Finike with its new yacht harbor and into the 700-sq-km Olympos
National Park.
The ruins of the ancient city of Olympos are located beside a
stream that leads to a gravel-sand beach.
Olympos was once famous for its cult of the fire god Hephaestus.
The place of pilgrimage for fire worshippers, the eternal flames
called the Chimaera are located close to the ruins, about 200 m
above sea level in the neighboring village of Cirali.
In ancient times the flames must have been much bigger and
visible from far out to sea.
There's a wide variety of flora to see in the park. Holly oaks,
laurel trees, maples and of course pine trees all grow here.
One of the highest mountains in the park is the Tahtali at 2,365
m. A cable car to the summit's peak opened in autumn 2006 and
begins from the station at Tekirova.
The route is 4.3 km long and it takes the cable car about 10
minutes to reach its destination. It's best not to be afraid of
heights as the huge cars have space for 80 people and at times hang
up to 300 m above ground.
(Agencies via China Daily December 27, 2007)