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St. Nicholas Church, Demre

Ancient East Roman basilica church

Summary

Ancient East Roman basilica church

Field	Value
building_name	St. Nicholas Church
image	Noel Baba Kilisesi... - panoramio.jpg
image_size	250px
caption	St. Nicholas Church
map_type	Turkey
location	Demre, Antalya Province, Turkey
coordinates
religious_affiliation	Christianity
functional_status	Museum

St. Nicholas Church is an ancient East Roman basilica church in the ancient city of Myra, now a museum located in modern Demre, Antalya Province, Turkey. It was built above the burial place of Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian bishop of Myra, an important religious figure for Eastern Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics and the historical inspiration for Santa Claus. Its use dated from its 6th century construction for the state church of the Roman Empire by Justinian the Great. The basilica is on UNESCO's tentative list to become a World Heritage Site.

History

The church was built in AD 520 on the foundations of an older Christian church where Saint Nicholas had served as a bishop. Justinian I contributed to the reconstruction. It is noted for its remarkable wall frescos, and its architectural and religious significance.

Over time the church was flooded and filled with silt. In 1862 it was restored by Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, who added a tower and made other changes to its Byzantine architecture. The church continued to function until its final abandonment by the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1923, when the remaining Ottoman Greeks of Demre were required to leave by the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.

Archaeological excavations

Archaeological excavations in the church started in 1988, directed by S. Yıldız Ötüken of Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. The work revealed some of the northern section of the monastery complex, and also the small chapels around the nave, one of which notably contains vibrant frescoes detailing the life and miracles of the saint, and a desecrated sarcophagus which is thought to be the original burial place from which his remains were forcibly translated to Bari in 1087. File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5939.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Exterior File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5895.jpg|St. Nicholas Church from courtyard File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5509.jpg|St. Nicholas Church courtyard from high File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5406.jpg|St. Nicholas Church View to choir File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5421.jpg|St. Nicholas Church at choir File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 7402.jpg|St. Nicholas Church view from choir

Decoration

The northeast annex arcade contains the only example of Nicholas's life cycle on ancient frescos in Turkey. File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5477.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5863.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5918.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5919.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5920.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5922.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5923.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5924.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5925.jpg|St. Nicholas Church Fresco File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5917.jpg|St. Nicholas Church corridor with Nicolas frescos

''Opus sectile''

Parts of the church preserve opus sectile decoration. File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5398.jpg|St. Nicholas Church opus sectile File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 5819.jpg|St. Nicholas Church opus sectile File:St. Nicholas Church, Demre 7392.jpg|St. Nicholas Church opus sectile

Liturgy

The Orthodox liturgy is occasionally celebrated in the church on 6 December.

References

Domenico, Roy Palmer. (2002). "The regions of Italy: a reference guide to history and culture". Greenwood Publishing Group.
Burman, Edward. (1991). "Emperor to emperor: Italy before the Renaissance". Constable.
"Demre Statues".
"St. Nicholas Church".
"St. Nicholas Church Myra/Demre". St. Nicholas Center.
Van Dam, Raymond. (2008). "The East (1): Greece and Asia Minor". Oxford University Press.
For the story of the translation of the bones see: Charles W. Jones, ''Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) 1978, {{ISBN. 978-0-226-40700-5, pp. 176-193.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

520-establishments 6th-century-establishments-in-the-byzantine-empire 6th-century-churches buildings-and-structures-in-antalya-province tourist-attractions-in-antalya-province world-heritage-tentative-list-for-turkey former-churches-in-turkey saint-nicholas

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