PATARA
Patara was once Lycia's main port. Cosmopolitan in its heyday—Hannibal, St. Paul, and the ruler Hadrian all visited, and St. Nicholas, the person who would be Santa Claus, is said to have been born here—the port finally silted up. Dunes at the edge of the village are now part of one of Turkey's longest and totally pure sand beaches. From here, too, runs one of the best parts of the Lycian Way, a three- to five-day walk to Ölüdeniz. Thanks to the remains and the turtles that nest on the beach, the new improvement was banned in the present village, making it a quiet choice to the bustle of nearby Kalkan.