Lycian tombs. The most creepy ghost towns, abandoned and forgotten Ancient abandoned city on the islands

On our planet there are a huge number of ghost towns, empty and creepy, frightening a traveler who accidentally wanders here with the empty eye sockets of the windows of rickety buildings...
In this rating, we will present the 10 most famous abandoned cities, abandoned by people for various reasons: some were abandoned due to bloody wars, others were abandoned under the onslaught of almighty nature.

1. Buried in the sands of the city of Kolmanskop (Namibia)

Kolmanskop

Kolmanskop is an abandoned town in southern Namibia, located a few kilometers from the port of Lüderitz.
In 1908, an employee railway company Zakaris Leval discovered small diamonds in the sand. This discovery caused a real diamond rush and thousands of people flocked to the hot sands of the Namib Desert, hoping to make a fortune.

Kolmanskop was built in record time. It took people only two years to erect beautiful German-style residential buildings in the desert, build a school, a hospital, and even a casino. But the days of the city's existence were already numbered.

After the end of the First World War, the value of diamonds on the world market fell, and every year the extraction of precious stones in the Kolmanskop mines became worse. Absence drinking water and constant struggle with sand dunes, made the life of the people of the mining town more and more unbearable.

In the 1950s, the last inhabitants left Kolmanskop and it turned into another ghost town on the world map. Soon nature and the desert almost completely buried the town under sand dunes. Several other old houses and the theater building remained unburied, which is still in good condition.

2. The city of nuclear scientists Pripyat (Ukraine)

Pripyat is an abandoned city in the “exclusion zone” in northern Ukraine. Workers and scientists of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant lived here until the tragic day - April 26, 1986. On this day, the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant put an end to the further existence of the city.

On April 27, the evacuation of people from Pripyat began. Nuclear workers and their families were allowed to take with them only the most necessary things and documents; people left all the property acquired over the years in their abandoned apartments. Over time, Pripyat turned into a ghost town, visited only by extreme sports and thrill-seekers.

For those who want to see and appreciate the full scale of the disaster, the Pripyat-Tour company provides excursions to the abandoned city. Due to the high level of radiation, you can safely stay here for no more than a few hours, and most likely, Pripyat will remain a dead city forever.

3. Futuristic resort city of San Zhi (Taiwan)

In the north of Taiwan, near the capital city ​​states Taipei is home to the ghost town of San Zhi. According to the developers, very wealthy people should have bought these houses, because the architecture of the buildings, made in a futuristic style, was so unusual and revolutionary that it should have attracted a large number of wealthy customers.

But during the construction of the city, inexplicable accidents began to occur here and every week there were more and more of them, until the deaths of workers began to happen every day. Rumor quickly spread the news about the bad city, which had a very bad effect on the city's reputation for the rich.

The construction was finally completed and even a grand opening was held, but none of the potential clients bought a home here. Massive advertising campaigns and huge discounts did not help, San Zhi became a new ghost town. Access here is currently prohibited, but local residents They believe that the city is inhabited by the ghosts of people who died here.

4. Medieval city of Craco (Italy)

About forty kilometers from the Gulf of Taranto in Italy, there is an abandoned old City Krako. Situated on picturesque hills, it was the patrimony of farmers and plowmen; its inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, growing wheat and other grain crops.

The first mention of the city dates back to 1060, when all the land was owned by the Catholic Archbishop Arnaldo.
In 1981, the population of Craco was just over 2,000 people, and since 1982, due to poor harvests, landslides and constant collapses, the town's population began to decline rapidly. Between 1892 and 1922, more than 1,300 people left Craco. Some left to seek happiness in America, others settled in neighboring cities and villages.

The city was finally abandoned after a strong earthquake in 1963, only a few residents remained to while away their lives in a new ghost town. By the way, it was here that Mel Gibson filmed the scene of the execution of Judas for his masterpiece film “The Passion of the Christ.”

5. The village of Oradour-sur-Glane (France) - a memorial reminiscent of the horrors of fascism

The small ruined village of Oradour-sur-Glane in France stands as a reminder of the monstrous atrocities of the Nazis. During World War II, 642 village residents were brutally murdered by the Nazis as punishment for the capture of SS Sturmbannführer Helmut Kampf by French resistance fighters.

According to one version, the Nazis simply confused villages with similar names.
The high-ranking fascist was in captivity in the neighboring village of Oradour-sur-Vaires. The Germans did not spare anyone - neither the elderly, nor women, nor children... They drove the men to barns, where they targeted their legs with machine guns, then doused them with a flammable mixture and set them on fire.

Women, children and the elderly were locked in the church, then a powerful incendiary device was detonated. People tried to get out of the burning building, but they were mercilessly shot by German machine gunners. Then the Nazis completely destroyed the village.

6. Forbidden Island Gankanjima (Japan)

Gankanjima Island is one of the 505 uninhabited islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, and is located just 15 km from Nagasaki itself. It is also called battleship island because of the walls that protect the city from the sea. The history of settlement of the island began in 1890, when coal was discovered here. The Mitsubishi company bought the entire territory and began implementing a project to extract coal from the bottom of the sea.

In 1916, the first large concrete building was built on the island, and then buildings began to grow like mushrooms after rain. And in 1959, the population of the island had grown so much that 835 people lived here on one hectare! This was a world record for population density.

In the early 1960s, oil in Japan increasingly began to replace coal in production, and its production became unprofitable. Coal mines began to close across the country, and the Gankandjima mines were no exception.

In 1974, Mitsubishi officially announced the closure of the mines and the cessation of all activities on the island. Gankanjima has become another abandoned ghost town. Currently, visiting the island is prohibited, and in 2003, the famous Japanese action film “Battle Royale” was filmed here.

7. Kadykchan - a village in the Magadan region

Kadykchan is an urban-type settlement, located in the Susumansky district of the Magadan region. One of the most famous abandoned northern villages on the Internet. In 1986, according to the census, 10,270 people lived here, and in 2002 - only 875. In Soviet times, coal was mined here highest quality, which heated almost 2/3 of the Magadan region.

The population of Kadykchan began to rapidly decrease after a mine explosion in 1996. A few years later, the only boiler house heating the village defrosted, and it became simply impossible to live here.

Now it is just a ghost town, one of many in Russia. There are rusty cars in the garages, destroyed furniture, books and children's toys in the rooms. Finally, leaving the dying village, the residents shot the bust of V.I. Lenin installed in the square.

8. The walled city of Kowloon (Hong Kong) - a city of lawlessness and anarchy

One of the most incredible ghost towns, now no longer existing, is the city of Kowloon, which was located near the former Kai Tak Airport, a city where all the vices and base passions of humanity were embodied. In the 1980s, more than 50,000 people lived here.
Probably, there was no longer a place on the planet where prostitution, drug addiction, gambling and underground workshops were widespread.

It was practically impossible to take a step here without bumping into a drug addict pumped up on dope, or a prostitute offering her services for a pittance. Hong Kong authorities practically did not govern the city; it had the highest crime rate in the country.

Eventually, in 1993, Kowloon's entire population was evicted and it briefly became a ghost town. The incredible and creepy settlement was then demolished, and in its place a park of the same name was laid out.

9. Abandoned ghost town of Varosha (Cyprus)

Varosha is a district of Famagusta, a city in Northern Cyprus founded in the 3rd century AD. Until 1974, Varosha was a real “Mecca” for beach lovers. Thousands of tourists from all over the world flocked here to bask in the gentle rays of the Cypriot sun. They say that the Germans and British made reservations in luxury hotels 20 years in advance!

The resort flourished, with new hotels and villas built up, until everything changed in 1974. That year, the Turks invaded Varosha with NATO support to protect the Turkish minority Cypriot population from being persecuted by ethnic Greeks.

Since then, the Varosha quarter has become a ghost town, surrounded by barbed wire, where the Turkish military has not allowed anyone to enter for four decades. The houses are dilapidated, the windows are broken and the streets of the once lively quarter are in widespread devastation. The apartments and shops are empty and completely looted, first by the Turkish military and then by local looters.

10. Lost city of Agdam (Azerbaijan)

Agdam is a city once famous for its wine throughout Soviet Union, from now on dead and uninhabited... The war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted from 1990 to 1994, did not give the lowland city a chance to exist, where they used to make excellent cheese and make the best port wine in the Union.
The collapse of the USSR led to the outbreak of hostilities in many former republics.

Azerbaijan did not escape this either, whose warriors were able to seize wagons with rockets located near Agdam. They turned out to be very convenient to bomb the Armenian Stepanakert. Such actions ultimately led to a sad ending.

In the summer of 1993, Agdam was surrounded by 6,000 soldiers of the Nagorno-Karabakh Liberation Army. With the support of helicopters and tanks, the Armenians practically wiped out the hated city from the face of the earth, and carefully mined the approaches to it. Therefore, to this day, visiting the ghost town of Agdam is unsafe for life.

Ghost towns are scattered all over the planet and silently keep their secrets. The creations of human hands, abandoned by people, stand deserted and silent for decades. They are not destroyed, they are simply abandoned - at one point people left them due to insurmountable reasons. The reason for this could be the threat of a natural disaster, man-made disaster, war or economic crisis.

This list contains the most famous ghost towns in the world!

1 Pripyat, Ukraine

2 Gunkanjima, Japan

3 Kolmanskop, Namibia

4 Famagusta, Cyprus

5 Kilamba, Angola

6 Tawarga, Libya

7 Kayakoy, Türkiye

8 Sanzhi, Taiwan

9 Oradour-sur-Glane, France

10 Kadykchan, Russia

One of the most famous abandoned cities in Russia is Kadykchan. It is located in the Magadan region, and was completely abandoned by people in the early 2000s. The city was built in the mid-20th century near a coal deposit, but after an explosion in 1996 the mine was closed. Residents of the village began to be slowly resettled, and in 2001 the houses were completely cut off from electricity.

Paris exists not only in France, but also in China, although it is very small. Construction of the city of Tianducheng began in 2007, when there was a fashion in China for copies of European landmarks. There is the Eiffel Tower, three times smaller than the original, the Arc de Triomphe and the Park of Versailles. However, housing here is so expensive that the city has practically remained a ghost - despite its splendor, no one lives in Tianducheng.

All these cities are completely deserted, so they gradually fall into disrepair, and nature wins its territory back, covering the gray buildings with lush greenery.

There are dozens of abandoned cities preserved on our planet. We talk about the most interesting of them.

1 | Ancient city of Petra, Jordan

Abandoned ancient city Petra, Jordan. Photo: Thinkstock

The city of Petra was carved out of the mountains by the ancient Nabataeans, who for a long time controlled the local trade routes. The most a nice place here is a kilometer of walking along a narrow canyon that ends at the “Treasury” - a huge facade carved from stone. This business card Petra, who appeared in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If you walk a little further along the canyon, you will find yourself in the main valley with royal tombs, a crusader castle, ancient temples and the ruins of three Christian churches.

Ancient city of Chufut-Kale, Bakhchisarai, Russia. Photo: Ilya Shurov / Flickr.com

Near Bakhchisarai there is one of the most famous “cave cities” of Crimea - Chufut-Kale, located on a 600-meter steep cliff, which is very difficult to reach. People really lived here, though not in caves, as previously thought, but in ordinary houses, inexplicably built on steep cliffs.

All that remains of the dwellings are ruins, but there are a lot of interesting things here even without them: you can go down into a secret well that goes deep down and is located right in the rock, wander through the ancient streets, and look at the remains of the destroyed palace of the royal family.

Ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico. Photo: Thinkstock

This is one of the most impressive places in Mexico - an ancient city that belonged to an unknown but very advanced civilization. In America before Columbus there were no more massive structures than the local pyramids of the Sun and Moon. Teotihuacan was depopulated 5 centuries before the advent of the Aztecs, who superstitiously believed that these grandiose pyramids were built by the gods. Many Mexicans still believe this way today. Teotihuacan is the main site of tourist pilgrimage in Mexico. Esotericists hope to find enlightenment, strength here, or at least just see a UFO flying past.

Ancient city of Machu Picchu, Peru. Photo: Thinkstock

The main symbol of Peru is a city abandoned many centuries ago, which was accidentally discovered by an American researcher from Yale University - Professor Hiram Bingham. This happened in the summer of 1911, and before that, for more than 400 years, no one had heard of the mysterious city located high in the mountains. Machu Picchu was built by the great Inca Pachacutec around 1440, and people lived here until 1532. True, scientists still cannot say for sure whether it was a sacred city or the capital of the Inca Empire. After the conquest of America by the Spaniards, all the inhabitants mysteriously disappeared.

Ruins of ancient Ephesus, Türkiye. Photo: Thinkstock

First a Greek and then a Roman city, Ephesus was one of the most famous cities ancient world and second in the Roman Empire in importance and wealth. There were baths, a theater, a gymnasium, a library and, as befits a self-respecting ancient city, - brothel.

The main attraction of Ephesus in ancient times was considered the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus, one of the 7 wonders of the world. His fate turned out to be very sad. Burnt by Herostratus, plundered by the Goths, dismantled for building materials for Christian churches of Byzantium, by our century the “miracle” has retained only the foundation, and even then, its authenticity is in doubt.

6 | Ancient City of Lamanai, Belize

Lamanai, Belize. Photo: Thinkstock

The ruins of an ancient Mayan city (Indians lived here from about 300 to 900 AD) are located in the jungle, on the banks of the New River, where you can see many exotic birds, howler monkeys and local residents - fishermen in homemade canoes. The ruins of ancient temples in some places literally rise out of the jungle and look very picturesque. Centuries ago, tens of thousands of people lived in this city. It is known that when the Spanish invaded Belize in the 16th century, Lamanai was still inhabited. Excavations here are still ongoing.

Ancient city of Hierapolis, Türkiye. Photo: Thinkstock

Hierapolis translated from ancient Greek means “holy city”. This city has a very rich history. It was founded in 190 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon. In 133 BC, the city became part of the Roman Empire, and was later ruled by the Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuks, and even survived several strong earthquakes. Despite the cataclysms and hardships, residents left the city only in the 14th century. It is known that thermal springs, located here, helped to recover from any ailment and even raise from the dead: this, in any case, was the opinion of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire, who flocked here for treatment.

Ruins of the ancient city of Caracol, Belize. Photo: Thinkstock

The ruins of an ancient Mayan city on the Vaca plateau (near the border with Guatemala) - the largest archaeological site similar type in Belize. Scientists managed to excavate more than four dozen large and small structures, some of which are accessible to visitors. Experts believe that the city of Karakol occupied a huge territory - 90 square kilometers, and in the 6th century AD 150 thousand people lived in it. The jungle surrounding the ruins is home to dozens of species of exotic birds, as well as tapirs and jaguars.

Ancient city of Angkor, Cambodia. Photo: Shutterstock

Even those who cannot show Cambodia on a map know about the grandiose historical city of Angkor. After all, it was from the great Khmer ruins that the abandoned city in the Soviet animated series “Mowgli” was “copied” (100 years earlier, it was copied from Angkor by the author of the book, Rudyard Kipling).

But the city became truly famous all over the world after the action movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” with Angelina Jolie. About 800 years ago, at the peak of the power of the Khmer Empire, Angkor was the largest city of its time. If London, Paris and Rome then barely had 70,000-80,000 people, then about a million lived here.

Ancient city of Chichen Itza, Mexico. Photo: Thinkstock

The ruins of this Mayan city on the Yucatan Peninsula were included in the list according to the results of a worldwide vote. modern miracles Sveta. The main pyramid of Chichen Itza - the pyramid of Kukulkan, called in the Spanish manner El Castillo (that is, “castle”), is one of the most replicated tourist symbols like Chinese wall or the Eiffel Tower.

This pyramid is an astronomical calendar: the number of steps of its four staircases plus one step of the temple equals 365 - the number of days in a year. The temple at the top of the pyramid was dedicated to Kukulkan, the feathered serpent. On the days of the spring and autumn equinox, the shadow of the sun slides along the steps of the temple, creating the effect that a snake is crawling along the stairs.

Cities are considered abandoned when local residents leave them and never return, leaving him to “live out” his days alone forever. The reason for this may be wars, migrations, natural disasters, but in any case, these places remain in history forever, keeping the secret of centuries and the spirit of the people who lived on the territory, and, of course, waiting in the wings when one day they will be discovered by archaeologists and the whole world will recognize them. Some of these cities remain unknown forever, some live only as legends. Reality or myth, below are the most attractive and mysterious cities known to archaeologists, historians and tourists around the world.

Perhaps, of all the abandoned cities that have ever been found or studied, distant Machu Picchu is rightfully considered the most mysterious and unexplored. The city, located alone near the Urubamba Valley in Peru, was never found or plundered until one day in 1911 when historian Giram Bingham visited it, and since then the whole world has learned about the abandoned city. It is now known that Machu Picchu was divided into areas where more than 140 different buildings with stone walls were built. It is said that the ancient area first appeared in 1400 thanks to the Inca tribe. And 100 years later, the city was abandoned forever, probably for the reason that a terrible smallpox epidemic brought from Europe hit Machu Picchu. There was also much debate as to why the Incas built a city in such a strange place. Some researchers claimed that this place was sacred, while others said that Machu Picchu was used as a prison, but recent excavations have shown that the mysterious city was simply built by order of the Inca emperor named Pachacuti, and it was built specifically near the mountains, which corresponded to the ancient astrological mythology of the Inca tribe.

Everyone has ever heard of the legendary sunken island of Atlantis. Now the stories about Atlantis are recognized as just a myth created by the philosopher Plato in 360 BC. Plato described an island with an advanced civilization and a powerful sea force. He claimed that Atlantis occupied a large area of ​​Europe until natural disasters caused it to sink to the seabed forever. Plato's story is considered only a fiction, but nevertheless, his description of an ancient and strong civilization was so impressive that many travelers and writers went to distant lands in search of the mysterious Atlantis.

The Roman city of Pompeii was once destroyed in 79 AD. after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. At that time, the city's population exceeded 20,000 people. After the volcanic eruption, the ruins stood for another 1,700 years until they were finally discovered in 1748 by a team of workers building a palace for the King of Naples. Since then, Pompeii has become the subject of attention of archaeologists and historians around the world. It's funny, but it was thanks to the Vesuvius volcano that the city's architecture was preserved. A huge number of frescoes and sculptures found on the territory of the ancient city of Pompeii give modern scientists a clear idea of ​​the way of life of Ancient Rome.

One of the regions of Cambodia called Angkor was also the seat of the Khmer Empire from 800 AD. to 1400 AD The region was on the verge of destruction following the invasion of the Thai army in 1431. Thus, the once powerful city with a vast territory and thousands of Buddhist castles was abandoned and overgrown with jungle. The existence of the abandoned city was not known for a long time, until one day in 1800 a group of French archaeologists found it. He carefully studied it and skillfully restored it. Angkor and its surrounding area, which is as large as Los Angeles, has since become known as the largest pre-industrial city in the world, and its famous temple, Angkor Wat, is considered the largest religious monument ever built.

Found in 3100 BC, Memphis was considered the capital Ancient Egypt. For hundreds of years it was the center of civilization, until with the advent of Alexandria the city fell into decay. At its height, Memphis' population was over 30,000, making it the largest city in antiquity. Over the years, the exact location of the abandoned city was also lost until one day it was discovered during a Napoleonic expedition in 1700. It was from those times that the detailed study of sphinxes, statues and tombs first began. Some important parts of the city have remained unexplored by historians and archaeologists.

King Zipa was accustomed to decorate his body with golden sand, which he then washed off sacred lake Guatavita. This old Muisca tradition is Ancient Civilization South America, became the basis of the legend of El Dorado.
One of the most famous of all legendary places, the El Dorado Empire was just a myth. It was believed that it first appeared in the jungles of South America. Translated from Spanish, this word means “golden”. They said that a king ruled in this city, and he had a lot of gold and diamonds. During the conquests, El Dorado became the subject of attention from the barbarians. In the thick of the jungle, where this mysterious place was said to be located, several expeditions were carried out, including the famous expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro in 1541, but they never found traces of distant Eldorado, as well as gold and diamonds.

Petra is probably the most beautiful city on our list. It is located in Jordan, in the area Dead Sea and is considered the center of trade of the Ancient Nabatean Kingdom. Most impressive is its exquisite stone architecture, carved out of the rocks of the surrounding mountains. It was thanks to this that the ancient city was well fortified. It is still unknown what technologies were used at that time to create such a masterpiece. This city flourished for hundreds of years, but the conquests of the Romans and volcanic eruptions gradually destroyed Petra until it completely turned into a lost area and stood in the desert for years. In 1812, it was first discovered to the world by the Swiss explorer Johann Burckhard, and since then ancient Petra attracts crowds of tourists from all over the world year after year.

It was assumed that the lost city of Z was located in the very depths of the jungles of Brazil, and it was even said that it was quite developed. There were bridges, roads, and temples. Talk about mysterious city began thanks to a document that was found by a Portuguese explorer who claimed to have seen the site in 1753, but no one else has discovered any trace of its existence. The lost area became even more famous due to the fact that the English traveler Percy Fawcett, who has since disappeared without a trace, began searching for it.

A place made famous by Homer's epic poems. Troy became the first legendary city located on the territory modern Turkey. It was here, according to legend, that the Trojan War took place. Troy was the most fortified and protected place, located on a hill near the river with the ancient name Scamander. Due to the fact that Troy was located on the coast, it was protected from sea attacks, and the nearby plains contributed to the development of agriculture. At first, the existence of ancient Troy was also classified as a myth, until one day in 1870, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schiliman excavated this city. Unfortunately, today this area has become unattractive, the reason for which is constant excavations and robberies of tourists.

The City of the Caesars, also known as the "Wandering City" or the City of Pantagonia, is just a myth according to which it mysterious place located on the very extreme point South America, in the area of ​​modern Pantagonia. The abandoned city was never found and is therefore considered nothing more than a legend. At first they said that it was supposedly found by shipwrecked Spaniards who discovered a huge amount of gold and diamonds there. They even said that 10-meter giants lived in this mysterious city. They also said that in the territory of the city of Caesars there lived ghosts who constantly appeared and disappeared.

Lycian tombs in the world (Rock-cut tombs in Myra) can be seen in ancient capital Lycia, which is located 5 kilometers from Mediterranean Sea, on the Andrak River, at the mouth of which there was once the harbor of Andriake, according to legend, the Apostle Paul landed in this place before his departure to Rome. On the mountainside facing the sea, which frames the Demre plain, to the north-west you can see the ruins of an ancient acropolis. The wall is two hundred meters high, built on a foundation of cyclopean stones. During excavations, records were discovered in the Lycian language, characterizing the area with the name "Thermilia", thus indicating that the history of Myra goes back several thousand years BC.

There are several versions about how the name of the city arose, the first: from the word “myrrh” - the resin from which incense was made for the church. Second: the name of the city “Maura” is of Etruscan origin and means “place of the Mother Goddess”, in phonetic pronunciation the name changed first to “Mura” and later to “Mira”. In the third version, in the ancient Lycian language, Mira means the city of the Sun.

In ancient times, Myra was the capital of Lycia and existed long before the advent of our era. At one time, it was part of the Lycian Union and was even awarded the right to mint its own coins. The decline of the city is directly related to the increasing frequency of Arab raids in the 7th century, as well as the flooding of the local river with mud. In the Christian world, the former capital of the great ancient state, known thanks to the acts of Nicholas the Wonderworker, who in 300 AD, studied in Xanth and soon became the bishop of Myra. After his death, miraculous healings began to occur in the city among believers who came to the Church of St. Nicholas to worship his ashes, and over time, Mira became a place of pilgrimage for adherents of the holy faith.

Repin, “Nicholas of Myra saves three innocently convicted people from death”

Saint Nicholas (Nicholas the Pleasant; Nicholas the Wonderworker - ca. 270-ca. 345)) is one of the most beloved saints in Rus'; many churches were erected in his honor. He is revered as a miracle worker and considered the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children. In European folklore, the prototype of Santa Claus.

Saint Nicholas also became famous as a pacifier of warring parties, a defender of the unjustly condemned, and a deliverer from needless death. The worldly mayor Eustathius, bribed by the envious people of certain three men, condemned them to death. Having learned about the unjust act of the worldly mayor, Saint Nicholas immediately hastened to help. He appeared at the execution site when the sword was already raised over the heads of the innocently condemned. Having removed the guards, the saint stopped the executioner's hand. No one dared to stop him. The mayor, menacingly denounced by Saint Nicholas, confessed to his sin and asked to accept his repentance. This story inspired I. Repin and he expressed his feelings in this picture.

IN Western Europe The saint is still perceived today as the patron of children, to whom, according to ancient writings, he brought gifts on Christmas night throughout the years that he lived here. During the time of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was surrounded by a fortress wall in order to preserve the shrine from the encroachments of the Arabs. In the spring of 1087, the remains of St. Nicholas were transported to Italy, where they are kept to this day. Today, thousands of pilgrims come to Mira (Demre) from different countries world, especially to visit the church of the great saint.

In Latin, Saint Nicholas sounds like Santa Nikolaus, can you guess what this name turned into over time? Certainly Santa Claus! Demre (Mira) is the birthplace of Santa Claus, his prototype is a real person - the famous Nikolai Ugodnik.

Not far from the tombs is the ancient theater of the city of Mira. I will explain why this theater is considered Greco-Roman. Lycia was conquered by the Greeks and it is thanks to the Greeks that the theater in Myra has the appearance of a classical theater building. The main difference between the Greek theater is its semicircular structure with a stage in the center, on which performances took place. There are spectator seats adjacent to the stage. During its history, the theater was repeatedly destroyed, subjected to earthquakes, and flooded, but was always restored. After some time, Lycia ceded to the Roman Empire. The Romans completed the construction of the theater and added some touches to its design and decoration. That is why the theater is considered Greco-Roman.

The differences between the Roman amphitheater and the Greek theater are obvious: the amphitheater, for example the most popular - the Colosseum, has a circular structure like a circus, and the audience seats completely surround the stage on all sides. Thanks to its semicircular structure, the theater in Mir has excellent acoustics, such that even a whisper from the stage can be heard in the very last row.

Climate. On weather of this region largely influenced by the Mediterranean climate. In winter, the air temperature here rarely drops below +10 degrees, and in summer it often exceeds +30. Tourist interest in these places is highest in the period from May to September, when numerous vacationers travel here from the Antalya coast along the route Demre-Mira-Kekova, in order to diversify their holiday as much as possible. beach holiday. Majority excursion routes starts at 7 am, and they last until the evening, so tourists return from the trip tired but happy.

How to get there. Transport. The city of Demre, with the archaeological complex of Mira, is located several tens of kilometers from Antalya, and 45 km from Kas. Kalkan, Finike and Olympos are nearby. Solo travel from Antalya airport it is possible by rented car or taxi. It is strongly recommended to use the services of a local driver, as the road is at times very difficult and sometimes unsafe.

In the Middle Ages, Myra (Demre) became one of the centers of pilgrimage for Christians. Subsequently, a monastery was built in Mir (Demre) near the temple of St. Nicholas the Pleasant.

In the 10th century AD, the relics of the saint were taken from Myra (Demre) to Italy. According to one version, they were stolen, according to another, they tried to save the sarcophagus with relics from looting and voluntarily allowed it to be transported. However, miracles in Demre (Mira) did not stop, and then a legend arose that the monks indicated the wrong grave, and in fact, the relics of the saint are still in Demre (Mira).

Temple of St. Nicholas the Pleasant is the main attraction of Demre (Mira).

Cuisine and shopping. There are few culinary establishments in Demre, although the choice of dishes allows you to appreciate all the delights of national Turkish cuisine. Of course not here for shopping the best place in Turkey, but it is quite possible to buy various icons, healing oils, crosses with a chain and all sorts of talismans. Their prices are quite high, but the real value of these things cannot be overestimated. Icons and healing oils, sold in special bottles, are in high demand, so their cost is inflated initially, however, this is precisely what you should not save on.

Demre-Mira-Kekova is one of the most popular and interesting excursions in Antalya. Among tourists who have ever been to Turkey, there are few who have not seen the ancient Lycian city of Myra, touched the sarcophagus of St. Nicholas or sat on the steps of the local amphitheater. Fullness of impressions and a lot of pleasant emotions certainly accompany this trip, making a vacation on the Mediterranean coast much more eventful and educational.