St. Nicholas Church is an ancient East Roman

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the ancient city of

Myra Myra (; , ''Mýra'') was a city in Lycia. The city was probably founded by Lycians on the river Myros (; Turkish: ''Demre Çay''), in the fertile alluvial plain between, the Massikytos range (Turkish: ''Alaca Dağ'') and the Aegean Sea. By the ...

, now a museum located in modern Demre,

Antalya Province Antalya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taur ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was built above the burial place of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

, a 4th-century

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Myra, an important religious figure for

Eastern Orthodox Christian Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

s and

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and the historical inspiration for

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

. Its use dated from its 6th century construction for the

state church of the Roman Empire In the year before the First Council of Constantinople in 381, Nicene Christianity, Nicean Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Theodosius I, emperor of the East, Gratian, emperor of the West, and Gratian's junior co-r ...

by Justinian the Great. The basilica is on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

's tentative list to become a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

History

The church was built in AD 520 on the foundations of an older Christian church where Saint Nicholas had served as a bishop.

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

contributed to the reconstruction. It is noted for its remarkable wall

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s, and its architectural and religious significance. Over time the church was flooded and filled with

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

. In 1862 it was restored by Russian Emperor Nicholas I, who added a tower and made other changes to its Byzantine architecture. The church continued to function until its final abandonment by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

in 1923, when the remaining

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

of Demre were required to leave by the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.

Archaeological excavations

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavations in the Church started in 1988 directed by Prof. S. Yıldız Ötüken of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. The work has revealed some of the northern section of the monastery complex, and also the small chapels around the nave, one of which notably contains vibrant

es detailing the life and miracles of the saint, and a desecrated

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

which is thought to be the original burial place from which his remains were forcibly translated to

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

in 1087.For the story of the translation of the bones see: Charles W. Jones, ''Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) 1978, , pp. 176-193. File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5939.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Exterior File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5895.jpg, St. Nicholas Church from courtyard File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5509.jpg, St. Nicholas Church courtyard from high File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5406.jpg, St. Nicholas Church View to choir File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5421.jpg, St. Nicholas Church at choir File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 7402.jpg, St. Nicholas Church view from choir

Decoration

The northeast annex arcade contains the only example of St Nicholas's life cycle on ancient frescos in Turkey. File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5477.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5863.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5918.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5919.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5920.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5922.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5923.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5924.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5925.jpg, St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5917.jpg, St. Nicholas Church corridor with Nicolas frescos

''Opus sectile''

Parts of the church preserve '' opus sectile'' decoration. File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5398.jpg, St. Nicholas Church opus sectile File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5819.jpg, St. Nicholas Church opus sectile File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 7392.jpg, St. Nicholas Church opus sectile

Liturgy

The Orthodox

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

is occasionally celebrated in the church on 6 December.

References

External links

sacred-destinations.com

Hundreds of pictures of church and frescos
{{Authority control 520 establishments 6th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire 6th-century churches Buildings and structures in Antalya Province Tourist attractions in Antalya Province World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Former churches in Turkey Saint Nicholas