Demre, Myra and St. Nicholas

On Friday the day started with a quiet road trip to the hippie town of Kas where whilst sitting on the sea front I was given a glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice which tasted quite honestly of vinegar. I was not impressed but apparently pomegranates are 'super foods' so I had to grin and bear it and drink the foul tasting liquid.

 Turkey's Independence Day is on the 29th October so we could hear music as we walked through the city. At the bandstand a few musicians were playing in preparation for the festival and as we stood and watched I ate an ice cream. Peculiar is word I would use to describe this gelato type ice as it was chewy. I'd never had chewy ice cream before. I believe that the ice cream mixture is mixed with gelatine to give it a gun like texture. 

Apart from the Turkish Baths the thing I had been looking forward to most was visiting the church of St. Nicholas in Myra (known today as Demre.)

St Nicholas, also known as Noel Baba, Der Nikolaus or Santa Claus, was (as I have mentioned in an earlier post) born in Patara but spent a good portion of and indeed became bishop of Myra in the fifth century BC

The patron saint of children and sailors (to name just a few) is historically known to have gone round people's houses on the 25th of December and leave a gift of some sort.

Indeed in the tale of the three sisters recounts how a poor farmer with three daughters would not able to pay a dowry for any of his girls to be married.

The sisters' came up with a plan that one of them would sell herself as a slave so that she could raise enough money for one of her sisters to get married. The problem was which sister was going to be enslaved?

St. Nicholas overheard the quarrel and was so outraged by the idea that he knew that he had to something about it. That year on Christ's birthday St. Nicholas threw a sack of gold coins -enough for a dowry- through the open window of the farmer's house and thus the first daughter was wed.

The next year on the same day a second bag of gold coins came into the house through the window and the second daughter was able to marry.

On the third December 25th there was a gale and St. Nicholas found that the window was shut. Feeling determined that he had to deliver the sack of gold St. Nicholas climbed down the chimney and placed the bag in one of the stockings that had been hung on the mantle piece to dry. Thus the third daughter was no able to get married and everyone lived happily ever after.

We learnt about this tale plus much more besides when the visited the church of St Nicholas. The tomb of Santa can also be found here yet the majority of his bones were stolen in 1087 and taken to Italy. The few bones that do remain in the country have been moved to the museum in Antalya. The Turkish are petioning for the bones to be returned to their home country but it would seem that the Vatican is not willing to give up that easily.

Santa's grave

The Myran ruins of the Roman  amphitheatre and Lycian rock-cut tombs are a marvel to behold so that's where we went next. Myra was one of the six great cities of the Lycian league and historians have suggested that Myra has been lived in from the 5th century BC. Earning great wealth in the 2nd century AD thanks in no great part to the church of St. Nicholas, the city, like Xanthos lost its importance in the 7th century as a result of the Muslim raids along the coast as well as a combination of floods and earthquakes.

The infamous Lycian rock-cut tombs

The recently restored Byzantian church in immaculate condition

Demre is famous for its oranges (which actually look distinctly green) so naturally we had to stop for a glass or two of the freshly squeezed liquid gold as well as a bite to eat.

On the return journey we came across a broken down bus and were flagged down. Two of the travellers had bought tickets for a bus that was leaving Kas at half past six and since we were going that way anyway would we mind taking them with us.

So there you are, I'm sitting strapped in the back with a Turkish couple who don't speak any English. Through consulting the guide book we were able to establish where the bus station was. Luckily we got the couple to Kas in time for the half six and were paid in kind with bread and cheese.

For dinner I had a mixed mezze to start with mixed vegetables and puffed up flatbread.

This was then followed by the Ottoman Casserole which consisted of both chicken and lamb as well as mushrooms,peppers and various vegetables.

Chestnut Halva for pudding: cooked in the oven with orange, Apple and raisins and had a similar texture to rice pudding.

I washed all of this down with an Ayran which I was told was buttermilk and it tasted absolutely disgusting, like sour milk.