The home of St. Nicholas

The ancient city of Myra was once the capital of Lycia and was one of the six largest cities in the Lycian League. The place is now called Demre and is also known as Kale. Today, Demre is an important place of pilgrimage because Bishop Nikolaus von Myra, who later became the patron saint, resided here in the 4th century
of virgins and children, of sailors and grain merchants, and the patron saint of Russia. Numerous legends tell of his miraculous work. The Nikolauskirche, named after him, was already an important Christian pilgrimage center in the early Middle Ages.

Over the centuries, St. Nicholas Church sank under the masses of mud that the Demre River carried with it. It was not until 1863 that the Russian Tsar Alexander II arranged for the church of Russia's patron saint to be excavated and restored.

In the three-aisled basilica, the floor mosaics and the well-preserved Byzantine frescoes in the domes are particularly worth seeing. The sarcophagus of Nicholas can also be seen in the church. It was badly damaged because Italian traders brought the bishop's bones to Bari in the 11th century.

Other impressive sights of Myra are the well-preserved amphitheater and the Lycian rock tombs. The tombs are in the rocks
built and provided with temple facades and reliefs.

Demre's sister city is Elzach in Baden-Württemberg.