Santa
Claus
Demre, lying on the shore of the Mediterranean is a very important center of Christianity.
There is a church here called the Church of St.Nicholas. Two conflicting suppositions are
made of this St.Nicholas. The first of these is that this St.Nicholas was the actual
founder of the Russian Empire. The second supposition and one believed by many westerners
is that this St. Nicholas is the saint known as Santa Claus. According to excavations this
structure dates to the sixth century and consists of a basilica shaped building with naves
divided by pillars and with the middle nave divided into three large square areas. Side
naves are again divided into even small areas. In the eighth century the church known
today was built over the remains of the earlier structure while benefiting from some of
the materials and parts of the first. In 1862 the Russians hired a German architect to
restore this building. In place of the traditional Byzantine dome, he roofed the structure
with an altogether untypical ribbed arch. Recently, a new segment of the original
structure was found under a layer of mud at the entry of the building; in niches of this
room archaeologists discovered various decorated crypts. It is believed that one of these
is the tomb of St.Nicholas, or Santa Claus. Some element of frescoes and round floor
mosaic were also discovered on the walls of the church during the course of excavation.
Another center of Byzantine culture in this region was Ksantos near present-day Fethiye.
Among the ruins of this then highly-populated area are ruins of a church. There is also
the ruin of a large monastery at the site of the town's ancient Roman acropolis. The
sacred site of Letoon lies on the further banks of the Ksantos River and a few miles
inland from the sea.
Archaeologists
have also uncovered the remains of another Byzantine city in Kumlucu, to the east of
Finike. Illegal excavations made here by local villagers have resulted in the foreign
abduction of many artifacts. The artifacts (primarily items from a church treasury) that
were found by archaeologists are on exhibit at the Antalya Museum. A basilica which was
built over the remains of antique ruins can be found in present day Antalya, the ancient
city of Pamphilia. It is believed that this church was built in the name of Mary; this
structure was converted into a mosque and has been known as the Kesik Minare, the Korkud
Camii, and the Cuma Camii. Although the ruin is unroofed today, it is believed that the
middle nave was covered with a tower-like dome.
The
remains of two large basilicas can also be found in the site of the ancient city of Perge,
today known as Aksu. One of these basilicas is 75 meters long, including its atrium, and
each of its naves were divided by a row of eleven columns. The second basilica is
important for its very large size, as it is thirty meters wide and fifty meters long,
excluding its atrium. The basilica at Perge is strongly reminiscent of the architectural
style of southern Anatolia.
It
is known that in the fifth century a large basilica was built directly in front of the
temples of Athena and Apollo in Side, lying to the East of Antalya. The church was
destroyed in the Arab invasion of the seventh or eighth century, and the local people
demolished it completely in the ten or eleventh century and built a small, four-columned
church over the middle nave of the original structure. A small domed Byzantine church
which was built in the clover plan is situated at the upper end of the Alanya Tower.
Scientists believe that this structure was probably built over the remains of a
magnificent basilica which preceded it. The interior of the small church contains faded
frescoes and stones and bricks constructed in various styles. This Byzantine church was
later given the name of the Arab Saint and it is thus known today.
There
are many other Byzantine ruins to be found in small settlement areas of this region. There
is a quite interesting basilica in present-day Uzuncaburc towards the north of Silifke;
this was once the site of the important Roman city of Diokaisareia. This basilica was
constructed in the Byzantine period by tearing down a temple dating to the very early
periods. The Alacahan Monastery is found on a terrace dug out of the rocks of a mountain
near the ancient city of Claudiopolis; today's Mut which lies along the Karaman-Silifke
road. This complex consists of graves cut out of the rock in rows, a cave-chapel, a
basilica dedicated to the four apostles who wrote the gospels, a baptistery and a very
large church. All of these structures are interjoined by a ceremonious path. The traveler
Evliya Celebi visited this site in 1671 and when he noticed the workmanship of the stone
masonry, he wrote that " this is a masterpiece which has just left the architects
hand."
To
the east of Silifke are two large gorges. The largest of these was called korikos during
the antiquity and a Temple of Zeus was erected in it. The Byzantines then converted this
structure to a basilica. A small church was built at the very bottom of this gorge and
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as she had reputedly given birth to Jesus in a cave. There
are also the remains of a bath found on the coast that dates to the fourth century. The
floor of the bath is decorated with a painting portraying the nude, Three Beauties. These
three beauties are known as the daughters of Zeus-Aglaia, Eruphrosyna, and Thalia.
