St. Nicolas Bishop of Myra, Born in Patara in 300 AD

Son of a rich wheat merchant and inherited a large estate and decided to use it to aid the poor.

One of Patara’s wealthiest men fell into poverty-lacked the means even to gather dowries for his daughters. Nicolas wanted to help them but remain anonymous to spare the family’s honor. When they were sleeping, he crept in through an open window and left a bag of gold. Later, he helped two other daughters in the same way, but as the windows were closed, he dropped the small sacks of gold down the chimney. The gold landed in their shoes which were drying in front of the fire place. These and many other stories stared the legend of St. Nicholas.

Patara Heart of Lycian region (10,000 years of history).

2000 years ago, Patara was largest and most important sea port of the Lycian civilization. Patara had a three vote right in the Lycian league. The conferences were in Patara.

Mythology says-Apollo was born here (temple for Apollo is here).

St. Nicolas and Paul the Apostle. During the Byzantine period, Patara again was important and became a Christian centre of some significance. It is known for being a place of St. Paul’s missionary work at the end of his third missionary journey as he changed ships en route to Jerusalem.

Excavations are bringing the city’s history to light. Finding of coins and ceramic fragments date the city to at least 7th century BC.

Excavations carry on each year under the direction of Professor Fahir Isik from the university of Antalya. Discoveries so far include a theatre, an amazing main street, baths, temple agora, granary, many sargophogii, a bouleutrion (government building), and located near the harbor entrance, what is said to be one of the oldest lighthouses in the world.

During the Roman Empire, Patara was very important. It was the seat of the Roman provincial governor, who turned it into a port from which the Roman fleet maintained contact with the eastern provinces.

Phaselis According to legend, it was founded by a group of colonists from Rhodes c 690 BC

Also part of the Lycian league. The city’s wealth and importance at the time may be judged from the fact that while the annual contributions from Ephesus to the League was three to six talents.

In 333 BC Alexander came to Phaeselis. They offered him the customary gold crown and opened the gates.

It was occupied by the Romans during Roman and Byzantine periods.

The city was notorious for a hairstyle called “sisoe” which Christians found to be particularly offensive. It is forbidden in the Bible “Leviticus 19:27 says “Ye must not make a sisoe (tonsuring) of the hair of your heads.

In 1158, it was captured from the Byzantines and declined as a trading centre until it was finally abandoned sometime in the early 13 C.

Olympos Olympos was the second most important harboring city following Phaselis, on the southern coastline of Antalya.

The ruins that remain today are mainly hidden and date to the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

Olympos is situated close to a ridge called Cakaltepe, situated a few kilometers southwest of the city. It blows out flames continuously. It is burning methane gas that comes up to the surface. This phenomenon has been compared to the monster called Chimera which lived in Lycia and was believed to breath fire. This is what made this the center of the God of blacksmiths, Hephaestus, and the religious centre during the Roman and Byzantine periods.

The exact foundation date of the city is unknown, but it was recorded on the Lycian coins struck in 167-168 BC and was one for the 6 cities having 3 votes in the Lycian League.

Mid west is a temple gate. It’s architectural parts of a small Ionic temple and the plinth in front of the gate indicate it was built for the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurellius (172 -173 AD).

During the Roman period, Cleopatra and Emperor Hadrian (130 AD) were some of the people who visited.

There were a lot of sarcophagus (this is a family burial spot).

One of the most interesting ruins is the “Captain Eudomus sarcophagus” which was found in excavations by the Antalya Museum. The sarcophagus is in a cave right next to the rocks of the estuary. It has a poetic inscriptions about the captain and the shape of the ship carved on the long edge.

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman empire as at the centre of interactions between the Eastern and western worlds for six centuries.

During the heights of power (16th-17th century), it spanned three continents, controlling much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire contained 29 provinces and many vassal states.

Istanbul was the capital city.

What do we know about Istanbul? It was chosen by Constantine I to be his capital in AD 330 and became known in the Western world as Constantinople. In the 5 Century, it was made the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

In 1454, it was conquered by the emerging Ottoman Empire. Also, fortified the wall around Istanbul-which was known to be almost impenetrable.

Bosphorus Straight It’s etymology is from the Greek words “Bous” and “poros” which means passing a river, ford, ferry.

It is the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. So it was always great commercial and strategic importance.

It’s strategic significance was one of the reasons why the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great made it his capital.

Across, you can see the Yoros Castle. Byzantines, Genoese, and the Ottomans fought over this strategic fortification for years.

Once the Ottoman Turks took over the city, they constructed fortifications on each of the straight. A massive chain was extended across the Bosporus between these two points, cutting off the straits to attacking warships.

The Haghia Sophia The Haghia Sophia was built by Justinian (in 4 years) to replace the earlier Theodosian church (mid 500). It was the third church to occupy this site.

It was consecrated to Haghia Sophia, the Divine Wisdom of Christ. It was repeatedly damaged by earthquakes and sacked. In 1204, many of its treasures were carried away to the west. The buttresses on all four sides were constructed later on to counteract earthquake damage.

The dome is 31 meters in diameter and at its highest point, 55 meters from the marble floor. The dome does not appear to rest upon a solid foundation, but looks like it is suspended.

It was the principal church of Greek Orthodox Christians until the capture of the city by Mehmet II in 1453. Mehmet had a minaret added to the SE corner and converted it into a mosque and it remained that until 1932. It was reopened in 1934 as a museum.

It contains a baptistery, the sadirvan (fountain) and the Ottoman tombs on the South side. All the mosaics in the Haghia Sophia were covered with plaster and whitewashed by the Muslims. They were cleaned and restored by members of the Byzantine Institute in 1932 and 1964.

Blue Mosque (also known as Sultan Ahmet Camii) Built partly on the site of the Hippodrome and partly on the area once occupied by the Byzantine imperial palace.

It has six fluted minarets, enormous central dome supported by four huge free standing pillars and flanking semidomes.

It took seven years to build this mosque and its associated buildings: a medrese, a hospital, a han (trading post and overnight inn), a primary school, a market.

Sultan Ahmet was only 19 years old when he commissioned the architect Mehmet Aga to build his mosque. He was so anxious to see it completed that he often helped with the constructions work.

The roof of the Sultans loge is beautifully decorated with painted flora and arabesque designs. …You can see in this picture of me with St. Nicolas the perceptions that Ottomans had re: images.

You can visit in the East side. Inside-260 windows fill the mosque. They were once set with beautiful 17 century stained glass but it has disappeared and been replaced by inferior copies.

The Byzantine Hippodrome (place for chariot racing and circuses) Generals celebrated their triumphs here, heretics were burned here, emperors received the approbation of their subjects and on occasions, the bodies of fallen rulers were exposed to the derision and ridicule of the mob in this place.

The Hippodrome is now called At Meydani, the Square of the Horses.

It held 100,000 people and was 480 meters long and 117.5 meters wide. It was constructed by Emperor Septimius Severus C AD 200 to pacify the Byzantines whose city he had captured and sacked in 196. It was rebuilt and enlarged in 4 C AD by Constantine when he made Byzantium his capital.