The Lycian Way Ultra Marathon

2013 Lycian Way Ultra Marathon is postponed to September 20-27, 2014 due to reservation of international runners on coming to Turkey.

MEET YOUR LIMITS!

When?

20-27 September 2014

How?

•  The Lycian Way Ultra Marathon takes place in a rough environment, harboring many handicaps. The participants ought to carry both their necessary and mandatory equipments in their backpacks.

•  LYUM runners are expected to run approximately 20–40 km/day. The total run takes 7 days with a long course and a break day.

•  Except the water, all the equipment being used during the race ought to be carried in the backpacks by the participants. Water will be periodically and sufficiently provided by the organization. Each runner brings his/her own food and carries in his/her backpack during the marathon. (We suggest that runners bring Food, including min 2500 units of calories for the oncoming day. Please keep in mind that the marathon last 6 days plus 1 day break and bring enough food for 7 days in total.)

•  The runners are registered after the approval of their health and EKG reports.

•  The runners accommodate in the camping sites for 7 days.

•  The responsibility of the racecourse and the management during the race belongs to the race-director. The routes are provided for the runners as a road-map before the race starts. The racecourse may change according to weather conditions or other factors and the decision right belongs to the race-director. The locations of the checkpoints and the localizations of the base camping areas also may be altered with the decision of the race-director. A kind of brief information about the actual racecourse will be given in every single morning by the race-director in English.

•  Professional medical and rescue teams are 7/24 available.

Please click here for the Competition Rules
Please click here for the Advices
Please click here for the Training Tips
Please click here for the Mandatory Equipments

Application Fee: 1.000 EURO*
The application fee includes*:
•  Medical check up a day before the marathon

•  Dinner at first base camp

•  Healtcare service

•  Emergency Service

•  Tent, WC, shower at base camps

•  Water (@CPs and base camps, hot water also available)- Every 10 km there will be a Checkpoint booth 

•  Tracing device (it will be given to all runners. It is a device that we can follow runners through satellite signals. It has also emergency button)

•  Pass for ancient cities

The historical project of Lycian Way

The project of Lycian Way, belonging to the English originated Turkish citizen Kate Clow used to aim to restaurate the historical Lycian Way originally built in the 4th century by Lycians and to build a spectacular racecourse surrounded by beauties of nature and history.

A 509 kilometers long racecourse, consisting of 23 laps, starting in Fethiye and finishing in Antalya was built sponsored by Garanti Bankasi (a very well-known Bank of Turkey) and Ministry of Culture of the Turkish Republic and opened in 1999.
The track of the Lycian Way is referred as one of the best 10 walking courses of the world by various sources.

The Lycian Civilization: A history beyond 3000 years

The primary archeological evidences about the Lycian Civilization in this area, which has been harboring to various pre-historic human habitations for ages, are from the 1250’s B.C., which actually means that we are talking about a 3000 years long history.  

According to the ancient Egyptian sources the Lycians used to be allied to the Hittites in the early ages. After the Hittites went away from the stage of history Lycia transformed into an independent princedom, and obtained for long years as a federation, consisting of various city-states, very well-connected to each other.

The first Democracy in the history

The Lycians, the ones which have been conquered by the Persian Empire various times after the 6th century B.C., by the Macedonian Empire with the conquests of the Great Alexander and finally by the Roman Empire, have provided their independence between 168 B.C. and 43 A.C. After that, they just transformed to a Roman state and encouraged the federative structure of it, till the Byzantines concluded its existence.

The Lycian Union, which was founded in 168 B.C., was the first democratic civilization of the world and used to be governed by the senate with the votes of the senators from the city-states. The biggest cities, which also managed to obtain till today, like Patara (the Capital), Xanthos, Pinara, Tlos, Myra and Olympos used to have the right to vote triple but the other smaller cities just double or single in the senate. That’s the atmosphere, in which the participants will be camping and through which the has its racecourse.

Contact: info@likyayoluultramaratonu.com

Web: http://www.likyayoluultramaratonu.com/EN/ 

Application Form: http://www.likyayoluultramaratonu.com/EN/?page=application-113&bt=1 

 

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Trip to Kekova - Kaleköy - Üçağız

Kekova, also named Caravola (Lycian: Dolichiste), is a small Turkish island near Kaş (ancient Antiphellos) district of Antalya province which faces the villages of Kaleköy (ancient Simena) and Üçağız (ancient Teimioussa). Kekova has an area of 4.5 km² and is uninhabited.

The Kekova region is 260 km² and encompasses the island of Kekova, the villages of Kaleköy and Üçağız and the four ancient towns of Simena, Aperlae, Dolchiste and Teimioussa.

Lycian Tombs

Kaleköy (ancient Simena) is a Lycian site on the Turkish coast. It is a small village with the partly sunken ruins of Aperlae and a castle. Access to the village is possible only by sea.

Üçağız

Üçağız (ancient name, Teimioussa) is a village one km from Kaleköy, north of a small bay by the same name, with the ruins of Teimioussa to the east. The name "Üçağız" means "three mouths", referring to the three exits to open sea.

Kaleköy-Simena

For More Information: http://www.demre.bel.tr

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Demre-ANTALYA

Myra is an ancient town in Lycia, where the small town of Kale (Demre) is situated today in present day Antalya Province of Turkey. It was located on the river Myros (Demre Çay), in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.

Myra features some of the most impressive and well preserved Lycian monuments in the country. These include an excellent collection of rock tombs and an imposing 2nd century theater. 

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 Lycian language. Carvings above are mostly in poor repair but the overall effect of this jumble of the architecture of death is dramatic. 

The theater, like many others in major Roman cities, was later converted into an arena for gladiator fights and wild animal shows. Many carvings and inscriptions in the theater are still visible, and cavernous tunnels and access ways to the side have been cleared. While much of the seating is intact, the stage building is partly collapsed. A macabre set of three carved masks, presumably from the frieze, lies among the jumble of remains in the approach to the theater. 

Today Demre is an important agricultural town on the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia. Around Demre there are also ruins of Andriake on Çayagzi beach and Kekova, Simena and Teimussa which are accessible by a short boat ride or some car driving.

Church of St. Nicholas, Myra (Kale/Demre)

The Church of St. Nicholas in ancient Myra (modern Kale or Demre) is a ruined Byzantine church containing the tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra (the inspiration for Santa Claus), as well as many fine mosaics and murals.

History

St. Nicholas was born in Patara around 300, became bishop of Myra, and died around 350. Only these basic details are known to history, but legends abound concerning the life of the saint. A much-embellished hagiography (life of the saint) was written by Simon Metaphrastes in the 10th century. 

St. Nicholas is said to have been born of wealthy parents and to have traveled to the Holy Land in his youth. He was tortured and imprisoned during the persecutions of Diocletian, and released when Constantine ordered official toleration of Christians. Nicholas is said to have attended the famous Council of Nicea in 325 (although his name does not appear in the official lists), where he became so infuriated by the heretic Arius that he slapped him hard in the face! 

Many of the legends of St. Nicholas involve him helping young people and the poor. In one tale, a butcher lured three boys to his house during a time of famine. While they slept, he killed them, cut them up and placed the pieces in a barrel of salt, intending to sell them for food. Nicholas, who was told of this horrendous act by an angel, hurried to the butcher's house and restored the boys to life. 

Another popular legend has it that three daughters of a poor merchant were about to be forced into prostitution since they had no marriage dowries, but St. Nicholas saved them from a life of sin by dropping three bags of gold into the merchant's garden or chimney (versions vary), enabling them to get married. 

The saint was buried in Myra upon his death, and a church may have been built over his tomb soon after. If so, it would have been badly damaged in the earthquake of 529 and repaired along with Myra's other buildings later in the 6th century under Emperor Justinian. Damaged in the Arab raids of the 7th century, the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra was rebuilt in the 8th century; it is this structure that largely survives today. 

After his death, Nicholas became the patron saint of sailors and seafarers, and many pilgrims came to visit his tomb. Over the centuries, the legends and great popularity of St. Nicholas of Myra led to the Christmastime figure of the bearded man who secretly brings toys to children. He is still known as St. Nick in most of Europe (and he brings his gifts on December 6, not Christmas), but in America he came to be known as Santa Claus.

The church suffered another Arab attack in 1034 and was restored in 1043 by Emperor Constantine IX, at which time a walled monastery was added nearby. In 1087, a group of Italian merchants pushed past the monks and broke open the saint's sarcophagus. They stole the relics and took them to Bari, Italy, where they were placed in a shrine in the cathedral. 

By the middle of the 19th century, the Church of St. Nicholas was in very poor condition. Two attempts by Russian groups to restore it were only partly successful. The bell tower and upper storey were probably added at this time.

What to See

The floor of the church is several meters below street level, and is accessed by a steeply descending ramp. There are fine marble mosaic pavements (opus sectile) and faded wall paintings throughout the church. 

The church has three side aisles; the two on the south have chapels at the east end. A room beyond the north aisle provides access to the upper storey. 

The nave is covered by a groined vault and has a synthronon (set of stepped seats for the clergy) with a covered passage in the apse. The stone altar is surrounded by four broken pillars and the exonarthex and narthex are well-preserved. 

The empty tomb of St. Nicholas is in the south aisle between two pillars and behind a broken marble screen. A reused Greek-era sarcophagus, the lid features effigies of a man and a woman. The cloisters on the north side of the church are in a good state of repair.

Festivals and Events

The Church of St. Nicholas is only used for religious services one day each year: the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. The ecumenical celebrations begin with a Greek Orthodox Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Metropolitan of Myra, who lives in Istanbul. Next is a service in which Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant clergy participate. The Cardinal Archbishop of Bari, where the saint's relics are now, is also represented. 

The International St. Nicholas Symposium is held at Demre in early December of each year.

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