VISITING THE SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH IN DEMRE, TÜRKIYE
Out of my weeks spent in Türkiye, one of my favorites, if not my favorite, little adventure was out to Demre from Kaş to visit the Saint Nicholas church. Visiting the old church had been on my list of things to hit here since I started planning my trip, and though it is small, it was seriously so beautiful and mind bending.
The most beautiful ceiling fresco in the church
The history in this part of the world is so insane, I can’t stand it! A stop at the Saint Nicholas Church is so necessary, and this is all that you need to know before visiting.
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SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH OVERVIEW
Saint Nicholas Church is open from 8:00am-7:00pm in the spring and summer, and 8:30am-7:45pm in the autumn and winter.
Purchasing a ticket to enter the church is easily done right at the entrance, and inexpensive for how unreal the site that you are visiting is. A ticket will cost you about 200₺, and from the entrance you will be able to spend as long as you would like exploring the grounds.
SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH HISTORY
Built in 520 AD, Saint Nicholas Church is an ancient East Roman basilica church that is built on top of the burial place of St. Nicholas-the 4th century bishop that the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians based their inspiration for Santa Claus on.
The church is built on the land where St. Nicholas served as well, in present day Demre (previously the ancient city of Myra).
Through the years, the cathedral saw many earthquakes, huge floods, wars, overturns of empires, and fell victim to the elements a number of times. The church is now below ground level as the earth changes over the centuries. The first real restoration was in 1862 by a Russian Emperor by the name of Nicholas I.
After being abandoned for the last time in the early 1920’s when the Greek population was forced out and left as history, the church was re-discovered in the 1950’s. Full excavations started in the 1980’s, uncovering the most insane murals and mosaics depicting his life, beautiful chapels, and a huge stone coffin that is thought to be his original tomb containing his remains, though most-if not all-of his bones were stolen and brought to Bari, Italy in 1087. You can see some of his bones at the Antalya Archaeological Museum as well.
HOW TO GET TO THE SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH
Though Türkiye has such fabulous (and cheap) bus systems, I would recommend getting a car and making a day trip out to Demre, along with the ancient city of Myra that is only minutes away. It is very possible to hop on a bus to adventure around, but in true Turkish fashion, the bus times are not always reliable and it would be much less walking and much less stressful to have the convenience of a little car to bounce around in.
Demre is around 45 minutes east of Kaş, and around 2 and a half hours west of Antalya.
By Bus:
There are multiple buses all day, everyday from all different locations that arrive at the Demre Otogar (Gökyazı Mahallesi, Kolcular Sk., 07570 Demre/Antalya, Turkey)
Start your search from where you will depart from when researching bus times, you will most likely be riding with Antalya Tur or Bati Antalya. As of September 2023, rides from Antalya will be around 350₺ (every 20 minutes), rides from Kaş will be around 170₺ (every hour or so), etc.
By Car:
Heading both east from the Fethiye area, and west from the Antalya area, you will follow Demre Kaş Yolu-the main road that eventually comes out along the water that is absolutely unreal.
Türkiye’s roads are great and straight forward, even out in the middle of nowhere. Though they are great, along the coast the main road gets super twisty and windy, and you just need to be aware that people will absolutely fly and pass you around bends and corners with no problem at all.
Another huge bonus of having a car is having the ability to stop along the main road and hop over the barrier to walk down to the most gorgeous, insane secluded beaches with the most crystal clear blue water and white sand and pebbles.
RENTING A CAR IN TURKEY: WHEN BOOKING ANY TRIP THAT YOU DECIDE TO RENT A CAR FOR, BOOKING.COM IS FABULOUS LIKE ALWAYS.
BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO VISIT SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH
Though it is far from the most popular tourist destination in the Antalya region, the St. Nicholas Church is still well known around the area, so it is smart to expect some what of a crowd in and around the grounds, especially tour groups of people stopping on the coast from cruise ships, etc.
The best time of the day to hit the church is in the morning when it opens, or later in the afternoon/evening as the day dies down, especially in the midst of the peak season to escape the southern Turkey summer heat.
Of course I would recommend visiting on the weekdays as well, but in the high season that might not matter as the days seem to not exist while traveling through Turkey as visitors on vacation.
BEST TOURS TO THE SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH
Though it is easy to visit on your own, there are some good tour options that also hit the near by ancient cities of Myra and/or Olympos. It is always super beneficial to have a knowledgable guide that can show you and teach you things that people like me had probably missed.
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TÜRKIYE MUSEUM PASSES
If you are planning on spending a good amount of your time in Türkiye visiting ruins, historical sites, museums-all of that good stuff, getting a museum pass card is a great idea to consider. If you think that you will spend over 3500₺ ($125 USD) on all museums and archaeological sites, the museum card allows you free entrance for everything over 15 days all around the country for that 3500₺. There are also specific museum card options as well, like the Istanbul pass, Cappadocia pass, Mediterranean pass, and Aegean pass
You can learn more and purchase a pass HERE.
There are really no words to explain the church and how insane it feels to walk the halls inside, if you are interested in history and the history in this region of the world especially, this is one of the best little spots that you can visit.
THINKING OF TRAVELING TO DEMRE? DO IT.
HERE ARE ALL OF THE RESOURCES I USE TO PLAN MY TRIPS:
FLIGHTS AND ACCOMMODATION: BOOKING.COM IS WHAT I WILL ALWAYS USE TO BOOK FLIGHTS AND STAYS. NEVER DONE ME WRONG.
TOURS, DRIVERS, AND ALL THAT FUN STUFF: VIATOR IS MY GO-TO.
TRAVEL INSURANCE: SAFETYWING HAS ALWAYS BEEN FABULOUS. THE BEST EVER.
RENTAL CARS: WHEN BOOKING ANY TRIP THAT YOU DECIDE TO RENT A CAR FOR, BOOKING.COM IS FABULOUS LIKE ALWAYS.
