Demre (Kale) Guide

Demre is the town where Saint Nicholas, who later became known as Father Christmas, made his name as bishop of the Greco-Roman bishopric of Myra in the first half of the 4th century. Among his big deeds, St. Nicholas is said to have given out nocturnal visits to the houses of neighborhood children to leave gifts, including gold coins as dowries for poor village girls; if a window were closed, said the authors, he would leave the gifts down the chimney.

Demre was once one of the most major cities onward the coast. An ancient theater and some rock-cut tombs offer reasons, but its remains lie mostly under the pavement of the modern urban hub and the large greenhouses that control the hillside to the north. Now primarily a farming region (it’s known as the tomato capital of Turkey), tourists typically see Demre as a quick stopover on their tour along the coast.