Did you know that Demre, known as the birthplace of the legend of Santa Claus, St. Nikholaos, is actually the place where Santa Claus grew up? The original birthplace of Santa Claus is known as Patara. After his education, Santa Claus became the Bishop of Myra, the town of Demre, and a church or museum and Santa's tomb were built in Demre in memory of Santa Claus. So, when you go to see Demre, you can visit all the settlements and follow in Santa's footsteps or enjoy the natural beauty and historical heritage. You will also see the life story and miracles of Santa Claus on the frescoes on the walls of the church in Demre. In short, Santa Claus was born, grew up, and died in Antalya.

Demre is not a well-known holiday destination like Marmaris or Bodrum but stands out with its natural beauty and history. Since there is no nightlife in the region, the inhabitants make a living with greenhouse cultivation. In Demre, which is generally visited by Russians, there are Russian inscriptions on most of the signs. The interesting thing about Demre is that there are no minibusses or city buses. You can only use taxis, bicycles, and motorcycles for transportation. Almost all of the people of Demre have a motorcycle. In Myra, there are remarkable rock tombs. These tombs are collected in two separate places, above the theater and in the place called the river necropolis on the east side. You can also see that these tombs are decorated with reliefs and inscriptions. Myra, the Lycian city of Myra, was the bishopric of St. Nicholas and maintained its fame throughout the Middle Ages. During your visit to Myra, located in the Mediterranean region, you can find this city on the plain of the same name.

The legend of Santa Claus originates from the ancient beliefs of the Scandinavian countries, as you can see from the fact that Santa Claus travels around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. However, the real St. Nicholaos of Myra lived and grew up on the Mediterranean coast where it never snows. Don't forget that every year on December 6th, Santa Claus events are held in Myra.

 As everyone knows, the Santa Claus Museum or the Church of St. Nicholaos does not actually belong to Santa Claus, because the origin of Santa Claus goes back to the beliefs of the Scandinavian countries. Santa Claus is called Santa Claus because of St. Nikholaos' eagerness to help children who have no one, and his distribution of food and gifts to them. For this reason, he is often confused with Santa Claus. The church was first built in the 6th century after the death of St. Nicholas. The current version began to be built in the 8th century. In the second half of the 11th century, a monastery was added. In 1863, Russian Tsar Alexander II bought the building and the surrounding area from the Ottoman Empire and started restoration works, but later the Ottoman Empire took back the area and the church and gave the Russians the right to do only restoration. However, the restoration work was so bad that it ruined the original church. Then, in 1876, the bell tower was added, which can still be seen today. In 1963 the eastern and western parts of the church were unearthed and in 1968 the sarcophagus of St. Nicholas, destroyed in 1087, was unearthed. In addition, Russians who visit the church during the 4 seasons believe that they make a pilgrimage by visiting this museum. Finally, today the church is located 7 meters below the ground level.

Although there is no document proving the existence of St. Nicholas, whose tomb became famous in the 6th century, the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, the hometown of Santa Claus, is a church worth seeing. Finally, in 1087, the Italians took the bones of St. Nicholas to Bari, Italy, and thus Santa Claus became famous in Europe.