Likya'da Bir Anıt: Myra'nın Aziz Nikolaos Klisesi - A Monument In Lycia: The Church Of Saint Nicholas In Myra – Erdal Yazıcı – Uranus

Today, the church associated with St. Nicholas, namely the Church of St. Nicholas, is located in the ancient city of Myra, within the district of modern Demre. Resulting from the alluvium carried by the rivers, the structure remains 7.5-9 meters below ground level today. It is through these alluvial deposits that the structure had been preserved to a large extent. The Church of St. Nicholas was a prominent building in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Period. The Church of St. Nicholas is a basilica type structure. The Outer Narthex of the church was reorganized during the 1862 renovation while the Inner Narthex rising above the older foundations of the structure, survived to our day. The oldest wall paintings in the church, which date to the 11th century AD, are painted on the vaults of the Inner Narthex. Arranged into six scenes, these wall paintings depict the bishops and emperors in council (there are two different painting levels in the area south of the middle vault). Prophet figures are depicted on the arches separating the vaults of the Inner Narthex.Inside the dome of the northeastern section of the church, we find the Communion Scene, in which Christ is offering the Apostles bread (rightward) and wine (leftward). This scene, which is dated to the 11th-12th centuries AD, reflects the stylistic characteristics of the capital Constantinople. The wall paintings on the South Burial Chamber have become clearer and more comprehensible after restoration. The wall paintings inside the burial niches on the northern wall of this section have been restored. Among these, there are 5 feast scenes, 15 scenes from the life story of St. Nicholas depicted on the arches of the niches and 45 figures of saints, bishops, martyrs and monks. During the restorations works, new geometric and vegetal motifs have also been discovered.TR/Günümüzde, Aziz Nikolaos’un ismiyle anılan kilise Myra’nın da içinde bulunduğu Demre ilçe merkezindedir. Yapı, yer seviyesinden 7,5-9 metre aşağıdadır; t...