Demre & Patara

Santa Claus, who is portrayed as an old man wearing red-and-white clothing and driving a sleigh pulled by a team of flying reindeer carrying gifts to children, was actually Saint Nicholas who was born and bred, lived to become a bishop, achieved sainthood, and eventually buried in the land which is in the present day borders of Turkey.

Saint Nicholas, who is involved in many a childhood memories, was born in and lived his life in lands which is part of Turkey. His birth place is the ancient city of Patara, which is adjacent to the Gelemis village of the Antalya province. Following his education, Saint Nicholas became the bishop of Myra, present day Demre town. There is a church in Demre built in memory of Saint Nicholas which also harbours his grave. During your visit to Turkey, you may follow the footsteps of Saint Nicholas by visiting all settlements in a couple of days, and enjoy the natural beauty and historical heritage they offer to you.

From St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of Poor, Children and Sailors, to Santa Claus

Nicholas was a Lycian, and he became a world renowned saint because of his life dedicated to doing kindness to needy and on the merits of miracles attributed to his intercession. He was the only son of a wealthy family and chose to become a priest. Saint Nicholas shared his wealth with poor, but hr did this through secret gift-giving. He was renowned for secretly providing assistance to the needy in the form of gifts delivered secretly through windows and chimneys, and his memory is converted into the present day popular belief in Santa Claus.

Patara: The Birth Place of Santa Claus

While Demre is most associated settlement with Saint Nicholas as he was the bishop there, and the church bearing his name and his grave are there, his birth place Patara where he spent his youth also upheld the memory of the saint. The city where the miracles of Saint Nicholas have taken place was Patara. Patara was the capital city of Lycian League and the extraordinarily well preserved ruins would attract your attention. The structures most visited are the Theatre, the restored Boule (council house), the Light House, the Triumphal Arch, the colonnaded high street, a temple, and numerous chapels. Great portion of the ancient city has been buried under the sand dunes carried by the Mediterranean Sea. While the shifting sands rendered the commercial harbour of Patara unusable, it has also created one of the longest and most beautiful beaches of the whole coast of Mediterranean Sea. During your visit to Patara you may have excursions to the ancient ruins, and enjoy sun and sea on the beach which is renowned for being the nesting site of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta).

Demre (Myra): Visiting the Church and Tomb of Santa Claus

As Saint Nicholas served as the Bishop of Demre, he is identified with the town. Also, he died and was buried in the town, and a church built over his tomb. During the Medieval era, the church was a centre of pilgrimage and even today visitors inundate the church. In the past seafaring pilgrims to Jerusalem stopped over Andriake, the port city of Demre, travelled inland to visit the Saint Nicholas Church and sought cure from the holy oil cult. Since 1983 every 6 December, the day of his death, activities centred on the "Santa Claus World Peace Appeal" are organised in Demre to commemorate this important saint of the Christian world. Adherents of different faiths participate in prayers for peace during the ceremonies, to remind an era when different cultures and religions lived together in peace for thousands of years in Anatolia.

Myra is one of the cities of antiquity adorning the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The city is 7 km inland. According to Strabo, Myra is one of the six major cities of the Lycian League. There are remarkable rock tombs hewn into the cliff faces which are identifiable to Lycia cities. Most of the ancient city is under the layers of earth awaiting exploration while the theatre is the principal building available to visit.

How to Go?

Demre and Patara are in Antalya province which is one of the principal tourist destinations of Turkey. The Antalya international airport has direct scheduled flights as well as chartered flights from a multitude of countries. Demre and Patara could be visited by coaches and shared-minibuses departing from Antalya city centre. The distance between Antalya and Demre is 140 km, and between Antalya and Patara is 230 km. Patara could also be reached from Dalaman international airport which is 125 km. to the west.

Texte D'information Sur l'utilisation De Vos Données Personnelles

This Consent and Information Document (“Information Document”) regulates terms and conditions for use of the data notified by Users of services (“Patients”) and/or gained from Patients during delivery of Oba Tourism Organization Adversiment  and Publishing Limited Company (“Medithrace”) with headquarter at Ertuğrul Mah. Orduevi Cad. No 2 Süleymanpaşa -  Tekirdağ pursuant to Personal Data Protection Law (Nr. 6698)  activities performed to deliver services, including “Free-of-charge Second Opinion and Health Counseling” (“Services”) at contract partner hospitals (“Hospitals”) with details written below.
 
How is your medical history and health information obtained?

Your personal health details are derived from “your medical reports, details about medications you take, epicrisis, imaging studies, imaging reports and pathology reports” that you submit us and they are shared with or disclosed to partner hospitals in Turkey and their relevant personnel in order to create your treatment plan.

Which data is processed?
 
This article lists the data that is regarded as personal data in Personal Data Protection Law (Nr. 6698) and processed by Medithrace for the services delivered to patients. Unless otherwise is stated, “Personal Data” and “Data with Specific Quality (Sensitive”) shall have following meanings pursuant to terms and conditions of this Information Document. 

Hospital collects following data that are notified by Patients. 
 
●    Identity - Address Details: Name surname, identity number, gender, date of birth, business or personal e-mail, phone number, home address or business address that are written on relevant forms,
●    Health Evaluation Details: Your medical history, medical reports, details of medications you take, epicrisis, imaging studies, imaging reports and pathology reports.
●    Extra data: Other health and/or personal information that is required for service delivery and not covered in above written data classes. 

Pursuant to Articles 3 and 7 of Personal Data Protection Law (Nr. 6698) and regulations to be issued by the Committee, personal data or sensitive data shall not cover the data that is anonymized by deleting your identity details in an irreversible manner and terms and conditions of this Information Document, hereby, shall not apply to such data. 

Why do we use your data?

Your data is shared with or disclosed to physicians, healthcare staff and other relevant hospital personnel to help our firm provide you with “free-of-charge second opinion” service that is rendered in relation with your probable treatment. Thus, they are used to have contract hospitals create a complete treatment plan and submit estimated cost.

Hospitals may process the personal data notified by the Patient and the new data derived by the Hospital from the personal data in order to help the Patient use the Services, deliver the Services, fulfill the intended use of the personal data specified in this Information Document, fulfill the liabilities arising out of the content of Services and meet any and all legal obligations.

In addition, the Hospital may process the personal data and disclose them to third parties without any need to consent of the Patient pursuant to Articles 5, 6 and 8 of Personal Data Protection Law (Nr. 6698) and/or in the presence of exemptions in the relevant legislation.

Allowed Disclosures
 
Medithrace shall be entitled to disclose the personal data notified by the Patient and the new data derived by the hospital from the personal data in order to render the Services, improve the patient experience, improve Services and achieve any one of the goals specified under the section “Why do we use your data?” of this Information Policy.

Your personal, clinical and genetic data collected pursuant to this Information Document, hereby, shall be processed in line with the provisions written in this document and the provisions and security measures dictated by relevant legislation of the country, where the data is stored and/or processed.

Your Right to Access Your Data and Your Correction Requests

 The patient shall have the following rights by applying to Medithrace;

●    Learning if the personal data is processed or how it is processed,
●    Requesting relevant information, if personal data is processed,
●    Learning the intent of processing personal data and whether they are used in line with the intention, 
●    Learning local and international third parties who are shared the personal data,
●    Requesting correction, if personal data is processes incompletely or incorrectly,
●    Requesting correction, deletion or disposal of the personal data in line with the provisions set by relevant legislation; requesting notification of the correction, deletion or disposal to third parties that are transferred the personal data,
●    Raising an objection to a negative outcome arising out of analyzing the data exclusively with automated systems,
●    Requesting compensation of loss and damage that arises out of illegal processing of personal data. 

The patient may post the request in writing to Ertuğrul Mah. Orduevi Cad. No: 2 Süleymanpaşa -  Tekirdağ or e-mail the request letter to info@medithrace.com. Medithrace shall issue and transfer the positive or negative response in writing or electronically pursuant to the above mentioned requests, provided the grounds of negative response are notified. The Patient undertakes that the details subject to this Information Policy are complete, correct and up-to-date and that they will be immediately updated in case of any change Medithrace shall assume no responsibility, if up-to-date information is not notified by the Patient.

Duration of Storage for Personal Data

Medithrace shall store the personal data notified by the Patient for the interval that the Services are actually delivered in order to fulfill liabilities set in this Information Policy, hereby, and arise out of the content of Services to help the Patient use the Services.

Our Measures and Commitments for Data Security

Pursuant to provisions set by relevant legislation or mentioned in this Information Policy, Medithrace commits to take necessary technical and administrative measures to ensure appropriate level of security in order to prevent illegal access to the personal data and/or illegal data processing.
Possible Changes in Information Policy
Medithrace shall be entitled to amend provisions of this Information Policy at any time, provided the amended policy is accessible at the Web Site, www.medithrace.com. The amendments made in the Information Policy by Medithrace shall be put into force immediately after the amended provisions are publicized.

By signing the declaration and consent document, I agree and state that I received the information and consent document, I read and understood the content and my personal data is processed, used and disclosed to third parties if necessary for my potential treatment.

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