by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The ancient city of Patara, a cradle of civilization located near Turkey's southern Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, is expected to become a tourist hotspot as 2020 has been declared the Year of Patara by the country's Culture and Tourism Ministry.
Patara, the capital of the ancient Lycian civilization, is expected to get more and more global recognition with Turkey's decision to promote it all around the year, said tourism professionals.
"Turkey declared 2018 Year of Troy and 2019 Year of Gobeklitepe, and both these ancient sites got good reviews in the international press and people came and saw them from all parts of the world," explained Levent Rengin, a travel agency manager from Ankara.
The ancient, legendary and mystical city of Troy, widely popular for the Trojan War, the subject of storybooks and films, is located in northwestern Turkey.
Gobeklitepe is a 12,000-year-old Neolithic site located in southeastern Turkey which has become a top cultural destination.
Rengin pointed out that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent announcement to present his government's decision on Patara would have an important contribution to tourism in this region, known for its archeological features.
"Booklets and digital promotion added feature of the site and we had tourist inquiries, especially made from Asian and European countries, about visiting the site. So we expect more international interest and attendance," he added.
Professor Havva Iskan Isik, head of the Patara ancient city excavations, told the semi-official Anadolu agency that Patara ancient city is a spiral of history that continues with little interruption until today.
"This is one of the most special cities of Anatolia, the cradle of civilizations," she said.
Stating that 300,000 people visited the ancient city last year, Isik stressed that they expected this number to reach 1 million in 2020 with this decision.
Isik explained that the Lycian League, which consisted of 23 cities in the middle of the first century B.C., dominated the region extending from Fethiye to Antalya on the Teke Peninsula, and then Lycians had a unique culture in Anatolia.
"There are 13 churches in the city. It is also very important in the history of Christianity. It was the gateway of Lycia to the world with its port and sea trade," Isik remarked.
Patara was home to one of the world's first democratic parliamentary systems and was also a hub for ancient Egyptian traders.
With its 6,000-year-old heritage, the region is also well known for the remains of the Lycian parliament building and its 26-meter lighthouse, as well as its tranquil beaches.
After the capture of Patara by Romans in the first century B.C., the city later came under Byzantine and Ottoman control.
In addition to its ancient features, Patara also hosts a 12-km long unspoiled beach where many films have been shot because of its fine sand.
The region is also an attraction point for animal and wildlife lovers because it's an important nesting area in the Mediterranean coasts for loggerhead sea turtles.
Rengin further pointed out that one of the main reasons why the western Christian world was interested in Patara was because St Nicholas, more popularly known as "Santa Claus," the bishop of the ancient city of Myra, was born in Patara.
According to tradition, St Nicholas was born in Patara and was a bishop in the Lycian town of Myra in what is today's Demre.
After he died, his gift-giving habit was spread throughout the world, and he turned to be the basis of the legendary figure Santa Claus, known for giving Christmas gifts to children.
