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Kekova is also a good shelter for boats. Üçağız Bay, surrounded by green boats on three sides, looks like a natural harbor. The ruins seen in Üçağız Village on the northern shore of the bay belong to the ancient city of Theimioussa. There is not much information about the history of the city, but from an inscription, its history can be traced back to BC. IV. It is understood that it dates back to the century. Although more grave remains can be seen here, a gate with its jambs still in place on the shore of the village and the remains of a tower on a low rock can also be seen.

 

A tomb located just behind the pier. IV. It belongs to the 19th century and has a house type and a naked young male depiction on it. It is written in its inscription that it belongs to Kluwanimi.

 

In the east, just above the sea, there are many sarcophagi that give the impression of being superimposed on each other. Most of these tombs belong to the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The inscriptions on the tombs are written as a citizen of Kyaenai and Myra.

 

As he formed a union with Simena, Apollonia, Isinda and Aperlai in Kaleköy, he probably formed a union with Myra and Kyaenai in Theimioussa and was represented in the Lycian Union with one of those cities. At the eastern end of the city, there is a pier 28 m long and 8 m wide by cutting the rocks. Traces of cutting the rocks can still be seen today. From here, it is passed to Simena in Kaleköy.

 

KYAENAI is an ancient city located near Kas district of Antalya province. It is located on the steep cliffs above the Yavi Village, 23 km from Kas.

 

The name Kyaenai means dark blue and is also called "The Ringing Rocks". This is because the wind is ringing against the rocks here.

 

It is not known when the city was founded, however; The inscriptions found in the history of the city BC. It has been revealed that it dates back to the 4th century. Since then, Kyaenai has been a constantly inhabited Lycian city. The rich Lason of Kyaena helped 16 Lycian cities as well as helped his own city and worked on its reconstruction. For this reason, he was given the title "Lykiakn", meaning the greatest ruler of Lycia. The city, which showed great development in the Roman Period, continued its existence as a bishopric center in the Byzantine period, and was abandoned in the 10th century.

 

Kyaenai is built on steep cliffs as high as 240 meters. A 450-meter-long wall surrounds the city. It is understood from the stones laid later that the wall was also used in the Byzantine period. Today, three gates can be seen on the western and northern parts of the wall. There should also be a fourth door at the south end of the west wall.

 

On the southern skirt of the hill, there is a theater that was built on a natural slope and has survived to the present day.

 

There is a necropolis area between the theater and the acropolis. Among the trees are many large and small sarcophagi from the Roman Period. Since Kyaenai is the city with the most sarcophagi in the Lycian Region, it is also called the city of sarcophagi. The ones on the western side are plain, the ones on the eastern slopes are more different and some are embossed. These embossed sarcophagi BC. It is dated to 350 BC. All other sarcophagi belong to the Roman period.

 

MYRA is an ancient Lycian city located in the region where Kale (Demre) district of Antalya Province is located in today's Turkey. Alacadağ was established on a fertile alluvial plain formed by the soil carried by the Demre Stream (Myros) between the Akdağ (Massikytos) range and the Aegean Sea.

 

Although some researchers think Myra is the same settlement as Arzawa's Mira, there is no such proven connection. Before Myra became a member of the Lycian alliance (168 – 43 BC), there is no written source about Myra; According to Strabo (14:665) it was one of the largest cities of the alliance.

 

Greek people worshiped Artemis Eleutheria, the patron goddess of the city. Zeus, Athena, and Tike were also worshiped.

 

Most of the ruins of the city, which belongs to the Lycian and Roman periods, are under alluvial deposits. The acropolis on the mountain above the ancient theater has been largely destroyed. Near the theater, there are late period ruins that could be a bath and basilica. The open-air theater was destroyed in an earthquake in 141 but was later rebuilt.

 

There are two Lycian necropolises in Myra, they are gathered on the rock above the theater and in the area called the river necropolis to the east of it. Most of the rock tombs look like a big house from afar, and some are temple-shaped. The most striking tomb of the river necropolis is the “Picture Tomb”, which the traveler Charles Fellows said when he saw the rock tombs in 1840, he could still choose red, yellow, blue and purple colors. Today, these colors cannot be seen, only traces of red and blue are found. Another remarkable thing in this tomb is the eleven human figures made in real-size reliefs.

 

The Myrans had chained their port, Andriake, to the mouth of the river to protect them from pirate raids. This chain is It was broken while entering the city by the commander Lentulus Spinther, who was sent to Myra to collect money by Marcus Junius Brutus in 42 BC.

 

In the early days of Christianity, Myra was the metropolis of Lycia. St. Paul changes ships in his port on his way to Rome in AD 60. Saint Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus today, was bishop of Myra in the 4th century. II, who was at the head of the empire between 408 and 450. It is known that Saint Nicholas was the archbishop of Myra during the time of Theodosius and Myra was the capital of Lycia.

 

After the siege in 809, Myra was captured by the troops under the command of the Abbasid caliph, Harun Reşid. In the years following this event, the city entered a period of decline. In 1034, the Santa Claus Church was damaged as a result of attacks from the sea by the Arabs. At the beginning of the reign of Alexios I Komnenos (1081 – 1118), Myra was captured by the Seljuks this time. Taking advantage of the turmoil, the sailors from Bari took the bones of St. Nicholas on 20 April 1087 and brought them to Bari on 9 May 1087, despite the objections of the priests in the church.

 

The Church of St. Nicholas in Myra was first built in the 6th century upon the death of St. Nicholas. The present church was built mainly from the 8th century; A monastery was added in the second half of the 11th century. In 1863, the Russian Tsar II. Alexander bought the building and the surrounding area from the Ottoman Empire and started the restoration work, but later the Ottoman Empire took the area and the church back and gave the Russians only permission to do the restoration. The restoration work was done so badly that the original of the church was ruined and the bell tower, which can still be seen today, was added in 1876. In 1963, the eastern and western parts of the church were unearthed. In 1968, the sarcophagus of St. Nicholas, which was destroyed in 1087, was unearthed.

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