Parerga to the Stadiasmus Patarensis (8): On the named places in the journeys of sacrifice recorded in the Vita of Saint Nicholas of Holy Sion

• Main Author: Mehmet Alkan
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Akdeniz University 2011-05-01
• Series: Gephyra
• Subjects: nicholas of holy sion; early byzantine churches; ancient roads; territory of myra; -; sionlu nikolaos; erken bizans kiliseleri; antik yollar; myra teritoryumu
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/gephyra/issue/18376/194021?publisher=nalan-eda-akyurek-sahin
• ISSN: 1309-3924; 2651-5059

This paper aims to determine the route taken by Nicholas of Holy Sion in his journeys of sacrifice which are recorded in his Vita and in so doing, presents some suggestions as to the locations of Tragalassos and its territory and of the ten places with churches that were visited by him on the second long journey which lasted 25 days. The settlement of Arapyurdu is suggested as the location of Tragalassos. The hamlet of Pharroa, belonging to Tragalassos, is identified with a new settlement located 1 km to the northeast of Alacahisar church. The following are the places recorded in the course of this 25-day journey: Karkabo, Kausai, Nea Kome, Partaessos, Symbolon, Nautes, Serine, Trebendai, Kastellon and Hemalissoi. This journey began from the monastery of Holy Sion (probably to be identified as the Alacahisar church) and the first visit was to the shrine of Gabriel at Karkabo which is identified with the basilica at Alakilise through an inscription found in the Alakilise valley 7 km to the northeast of Myra (an identification already proposed by C. Foss). After Karkabo/Alakilise, Nicholas would have taken a route in a southerly direction to visit the extant sanctuaries around the Alakilise valley. The second destination, Kausai, might be Dikmen Tepesi, the closest settlement having an early Byzantine church 1 km south of the basilica at Alakilise. The next place Nea Kome can be localized at Karacaören–Günağı (the newly discovered settlement and an early Byzantine church are introduced in this paper) lying ca. 2 km southeast of Alakilise. The fourth station Partaessos was probably at Yılanbaşı ca. 3 km southeast of Alakilise and ca. 1 km southeast of the Günağı church. Nicholas went down from Partaessos to the fifth stop Symbolon, probably being the ancient name of the “Dalyan” lagoon, lying 4 km east of Myra. The next place visited, Nautes meaning “sailor”, must be near to the lagoon (Symbolon). After Symbolon and Nautes, Nicholas continued his route in a northerly direction to visit the remaining four places and to return to his monastery. Serine can be localized as Turant Asarı located 5 km to the northeast of Myra and 2 km east of Muskar/Belören. The next place Trebendai, which was an independent city during the Hellenistic period, should be localized as Muskar due to a previously unpublished inscription, published here, the contents of which have been employed in order to identify Trebendai as Muskar. The ninth stop, Kastellon, should be located between the monastery of H. Sion and Myra according to the Vita, and the last station Hemalissoi should be between Kastellon and the monastery of Sion. If the distribution of the churches in the area and Nicholas's route are taken into consideration, Kastellon should be located in or around Devekuyusu, and Hemalissoi can be identified with the village of Karabel.