More of Andriake exposed to future visitors

It may sound as just a first attempt to enlarge the area which can be visited in Andriake, the harbor of old Myra, today’s Demre. Most tours simply skip this city with its unique granary built by Emperor Hadrian when driving from the Myra theater or Church of St. Nicolas to get on one of the day tours to nearby Kekova Island, but this situation may soon change.

[Picture from the Hurriyet Daily News]

During a thirty-days cleaning job, workers have cut bushes, trees, and reeds in order to expose the western side of Andriake, as till now only the eastern area had been cleared. This operation revealed structures that were never seen before over a surface of 300x50 meters and which at first glance seem to contain a church and several arched structures, as well as parts of the Roman and Byzantine city wall.

The article in the Hurriyet Daily News does not say when the true excavation work is planned to get underway, but archaeologists certainly will not start anything major this year as the season is drawing to an end. I will keep a close eye on future discoveries in Andriake to follow up on my earlier story Andriake, the port of Myra.