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Myra 105 pictures 2.36 minutes HQ video A couple of kilometers north of Demre, the ruins include a score of tombs arranged on a cliff in a jumble overlooking the sea; this is perhaps the most amazing collection of rock tombs in the whole of Anatolia. Myra comes from the Greek word "mirra"; we know for certain that it dates back at least as far as the 5^th century B.C. and was one of the most important towns in the Lycian Federation. Its superiority lasted in time; in fact, during the Byzantine era Theodosius II promoted it to capital of Lycia. Unfortunately, its promotion coincided with the Arab predations that commenced during the 7^th century and continued for over two centuries. In 809, Myra was conquered by Harun el-Rashid and the city was gradually abandoned. The funeral monuments date from the 6^th to the 3^rd century B.C.; built isolated or cut out of the rock-face; several of the facades have flat or sloping roofs carved to imitate wooden beams supported by pillars, suggesting that they are copied in form from wooden temples; the Greek temple is revealed by the rich decorated architraves. The richness of decorations - some still have traces of color - and in particular the magnificence of sculptured bas-reliefs, usually portraying the dead person surrounded by his family, testify to the exceptional taste and artistic sense of local artists for the time. Theater Myra's splendid theater has survived to our day and it is still in good shape. Behind it, the cavea of the theater located on the steep side of the mountain is mostly carved into rocks. The theater was later used as an arena, and so some changes were made to it. The theater was built in Greek style, that is, against a hill with fourteen flights of steps dividing the cavea into thirteen sections, with twenty-nine rows of seats in the lower part and nine in the upper. Rock Tombs Evidence of its glorious past are the rock tombs dating back to the Lycian era and the Graeco-Roman theater. As for its unique necropolis, it was a Lycian custom to bury their dead high up because they believed that in this way they were more easily transported to heaven. These funeral monuments date from between the 6^th to 3^rd centuries B.C. Many of the tombs have log cabin features carved into the rock, presumably reflecting the domestic architecture of the period. A few easily accessible ones have inscriptions in the ancient Lycian language. Back to Turkey Index