Myra

Myra

Türkiye · Antalya

Ancient cityExcavation ongoing
Approximate period500 BCE — 1,200 CEClassical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods See on the map ↓

In brief

Myra, in Demre, was one of the important cities of the Lycian League. Research in the city examines rock-cut tombs, theatres and settlement layers preserved beneath alluvium; the current Myra-Andriake excavation program began in 2009.

What was found?

  • 1Classical-period rock-cut tombs

    The tombs carved into the rock are among Myra’s principal remains from the Classical period. They allow the city’s funerary architecture to be studied in place.

  • 2Roman theater

    One of Myra’s prominent monumental structures is its Roman-period theater. Together with the earlier remains beneath it, it shows the use of the same area in different periods.

  • 3Remains of a Hellenistic theater

    Remains of a smaller Hellenistic theater and other structures have been identified beneath the Roman theater. According to researchers, these findings reveal the development of the area before the Roman period.

  • 4Painted terracotta figurines

    The figurines found dumped in a room include depictions of women, men, gods, goddesses, and animals. The preservation of original paint on some allows the colorful appearance of these small objects to be studied.

  • 5Votive plaques

    The group of terracotta finds also includes votive plaques. These provide tangible material concerning the community’s religious offering practices.

What does it point to?

The superimposed remains of the theaters show that the same area in Myra was reorganized and reused. The figurines, bringing together depictions of humans, deities, and animals, indicate the diversity of small-scale art and religious expression.

What did it teach us?

  1. Revealed the presence of a smaller Hellenistic-period theater beneath the Roman theater.
  2. Documented through surviving traces of color that terracotta figurines were produced with painted finishes.
  3. Showed that parts of the urban settlement are preserved beneath alluvium.

Images

Turkey, Demre, Myra, Roman theatre of Myra - panoramio
Alx R · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Segments Of the Amphitheatre Decoration with the Necropolis in the Back Ground at Myra Tur
Rab Lawrence · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Latest news / selected archive

During the 2020 season, more than fifty terracotta figurines and votive plaques were found while investigating Hellenistic buildings.

Record

Culture
Lycian, Roman and Byzantine
Team / historical
Nevzat Çevik; Akdeniz University
Coordinates
36.2580°, 29.9860°

Sources

  1. muze.gov.tr
  2. arkeoloji.akdeniz.edu.tr
  3. akdeniz.edu.tr
  4. Akdeniz Üniversitesi — Akdeniz'den, Sayı 01

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12.000

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