St. Nicolas Pension is a lovely hospitable pension based in the centre of Patara home to the best beach in the world, as voted by The UK Times newspaper recently. Along with being home to the Caretta Carettas, nesting turtles during the summer months

18 kilometres of sandy beach stretches out as far as the eye can see, in early morning it easy to find a space of 5km of beach for yourself. Sand melts into the blue water where yachts cruise past with the sun romantically setting over

Inland from the beach is the extensive virtually untouched ruins of Patara, unfolding beneath green shrubbery, poking out beside swamp land that ertinately
hides more of the crumbling Lycian city of centuries ago. These ruins unlike others over exposed by tourism are free to be wandered and at most times free of other people

Birthplace of St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas was born in Patara of Lycia about the middle of the third century, of devout and wealthy parents who provided him with a Christian upbringing and education. He was orphaned at an early age.

Later he was ordained a priest, and when the bishop of his district died, he was made Bishop of Myra of Lycia.

Especially well known is his charity and his love for children. He used his great wealth to relieve all who were in need: poor families, widows, and especially orphans and poor children. For this same purpose he founded, as Bishop, a poorhouse, hostelries, and a hospital.

He was the personification of Christian love and affection. As such he is honored by all the Christian world, both the Eastern and the Western.

A lot of impressive ancient buildings are still standing at Patara, including a Roman triple arch from about 100 A.D., a temple with a massive decorated doorway, and a huge theater, which attests to the large population of the ancient city. A wealth of architectural elements are scattered across the site, some of them submerged in the marshy/sandy undergrowth. The place was clearly a rich, industrious urban center in its day