What trip to Turkey would be complete without a visit to the birth place of Jolly Old Saint Nick!
Yes, as we all learned in Christmas carols sung every year by the fireside, the man who has come to be known all around the world as Santa Claus was Greek.
Born in the Greek colony of Patara in the year 270, Father Christmas spent most of his life in the nearby Turkish city of Myra, where he eventually became Bishop.
He had a reputation for secret gift-giving which makes Secret Santa parties not only fun but extremely historically accurate. He also has his hands full serving as the patron saint of children, sailors, fishermen, merchants, the falsely accused, prostitutes, repentant thieves, pharmacists, archers, and pawnbrokers. The falsely accused children of archers are especially watched over by him.
Myra today is actually the modern town of Demre and is home to a few interesting archeological sites including a number of Lycean tombs cut directly into the rock
as well as a well-preserved Roman theatre.
Tragically we passed through Demre at the wrong time of year to catch the annual camel-wrestling festival (try to be there around January for that) but it was still an interesting stop.
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so – you couldn’t find any other wrestling to watch??
are the camels in the rign by themselves or with a rider or…