Andriake Archaeological Site and Lycian Civilisations Museum

For a long time it was debated whether the ruins at Çayağzı in Demre belonged to a separate city. Recent research has shown that Andriake was the harbour district of Myra. Lycia owed its wealth to ports and trade, and Andriake was the third most important harbour in the region after Phaselis and Patara. Fragments of imported amphorae found during excavations show how busy it was.

Most of the ruins are linked to commerce, and the granary that proves the port's role in the grain trade now houses the Museum of Lycian Civilisations. Around it you will find the agora, a cistern, city walls, aqueducts, monumental fountains, Byzantine churches, baths and watchtowers. Lycian-type tombs stand in the old cemetery area. Excavations have also uncovered social and religious buildings away from the harbour, including evidence of an early Jewish community.

The most unusual sight is the Murex Workshops, a dye factory. Murex is a sea snail from which the rare purple dye of imperial robes was extracted. So many shells were brought here that the leftover shells were mixed into the building mortar, a Murex mortar found only in this region.