Saturday, March 26th:
Ephesus, Turkey:
I may sound like a broken record by now, but this trip has managed to completely blow me away with each passing day. Today we woke up at around 8:00am to eat a quick breakfast at the hotel and meet our tour group to travel to the ancient city of Ephesus in nearby Selçuk for the day. We were greeted at 9:00am by our guide, Tayfun, from Bravo Tourizm. To our surprise, nobody else had signed up for the tour for that day, so we had a private tour all day! The drive to Ephesus is about one hour southward from Izmir, which Jen and I used to catch up on some more rest before we got closer and our guide began telling us facts about the city and the day ahead. He explained (in very good English for a Turkish man) how Ephesus had been inhabited for thousands of years and began to rise as an Ancient Greek city until its summit as the second largest city of the Roman Empire. He also explained how the city had been moved three separate times to accommodate the changing landscape, particular the moving shores of the harbor that offered it one of the biggest seaports in ancient times. Our first stop on our day’s journey was the House of the Virgin Mary.
Statue of the Virgin Mary Outside of Her Home in Ephesus, Turkey:
Tayfun explained to us that upon his death, Jesus put his mother’s protection in the hands of St. John the Evangelist. St. John was a resident of Ephesus, so presumably he brought Mary with him back to his hometown to watch over her and protect her. For centuries this was mere speculation and her home was never discovered, however people had hope of discovering it. In the nineteenth century, a German nun had an apparition that she saw the house of the Virgin Mary on top of a mountain, next to a spring, overlooking the bay. The house was soon discovered in the late nineteenth century and is now a site of religious pilgrimage. The home, now restored, has been visited by Pope John VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. We arrived at the house and immediately recognized the severe tranquility of the area. Nobody was saying a word, aside from quiet prayer. The home is extraordinarily humble, but merely walking around it one is filled with a sense of awe and wonder. Visitors are also allowed to wash their hands and drink from the spring adjacent to the house. Both Jen and I were amazed at this site and we both purchased small glass bottles of the “holy spring water” before heading back down the mountain to the ruins of Ephesus at its base.
Ancient Carving of the God Hermes / Mercury:
We walked into the north gates of Ephesus with our guide and were immediately greeted with massive stacks of marble ruins. Immediately inside the gate our guide led us around the first area of ruins, explaining the terracotta piping that the inhabitants used for irrigation, and also showing us an ancient form of a backgammon board, carved into marble, that was found near the politician meeting place. He also showed us a small carving on the ground of a circle surrounding a cross-like shape that was used to show other Christians that Christians were secretly practicing there. Pretty tricky way to hide during times of difficulty for the early Christians! We walked down the first main marble avenue of Ephesus and entered the first prominent building of the city, the Odeon. The Odeon looks, at first glance, like a small Roman theatre, except it is older and housed politicians, not gladiators and actors. Greek and Roman politicians debated in the semi-circular chamber for centuries. Continuing down the road we passed a place in the marble where five holes were dug into the stone. Tayfun explained to us that the eternal flame of Ephesus was chained to the ground there so ships could see the city from the harbor. It is also a symbol of good fortune, and is positioned next to a stone carving of the both Hermes (or the Roman Mercury) and his symbol.
The Temple of Hadrian:
We walked to the bottom of the hill and came to an intersection where stood a massive tomb and another walkway leading to the ruins of the Temple of Domitian. At the base of the hill also stood a carving of Nike (or the Roman Victoria), a symbol of victory for those who lived during these times. We turned the corner and immediately laid eyes upon hoards of more massive ruins. It was astonishing to imagine all of these buildings so many centuries ago, filled with merchants, slaves, and city dwellers living their lives. We walked down the next marble road through the Hercules Gates and along a row of old merchant storefronts. Each little store decorated its front steps with its own mosaic designs, and these are beautifully preserved today. Across from the storefronts is the massive arching facade of the Temple of Hadrian with carvings of Hadrian and Medusa among the friezes on its top level. Let me pause here and note that I do not mean to underestimate the sheer beauty and awesomeness of these buildings by simply listing their names—you really have to see them for yourself! There are just so many of them it is almost overwhelming and awe-inspiring.
The Roman Terrace Houses:
Farther down the road we entered the Latrine where people would pay to use public toilets. Our guide also explained to us that slaves used to heat the marble seats in the winter by sitting on them until a patron came along to use them. Also just outside of the latrine was the first carving of Artemis, the main god to whom the city dwellers prayed. Across from the Latrine is an entrance to a sub-museum of Ephesus, the Roman Terrace Houses. Visitors pay a small entry fee and enter an on-going excavation of Upper-Class Roman Homes ascending the hills that surround Ephesus. The whole building is covered by a massive roof to protect those working inside, and a glass walkway has been installed so visitors may observe the houses. These houses are absolutely top-notch. Archeologists have pieced together thousands of pieces of marble to try and reassemble the walls of the homes, and many of the walls are covered in layers upon layers of fresco paintings. The houses featured frescoes of cupids, the muses, Medusa, Plato, Socrates, and others. Scores of mosaics also decorated the floors and walls of these rich dwellings. The back exit at the top of the terrace offered visitors the beautiful view of the harbor and the rest of Ephesus that these rich families enjoyed every day.
The Library of Celsus and the Gate of Augustus:
Exiting the Terrace Houses Museum, one is immediately confronted with the largest building in Ephesus, the great Library of Celsus. This library was reconstructed from ruins in the 1970s, and in its time was the second largest library in the world, second to only the great library at Alexandria. The massive facade of the library is what anyone would see 99% of the time if they Google-searched Ephesus. Before going inside the library, Jen and I were mobbed by a group of young Turkish schoolchildren who all wanted to get a picture taken of them with the American tourists we were! This gave me quite a laugh. Inside the library is the tomb of Celsus, an Ancient Greek Governor of the Asian provinces of the Greek Empire. Immediately adjacent to the library is the Gate of Augustus which leads to the massive commercial Agora of Ephesus. Most of the Agora is in ruins, however visitors can clearly see its massive footprint, and some small goods have been recovered and are on display in cases nearby. Across the street from the library, as our guide noted, is the Brothel of Ephesus—more on that in just a moment.
We continued down another main street of the city, passing more massive marble ruins and Ancient Greek inscription with each step. We got to one carving and stopped. Our guide explained that it was an ancient form of advertising. The left foot carving told people that this building was on the left side of the street. There is a beautiful woman pictured, signifying the Brothel. Also carved into the stone is a heart, filled with coins, explaining that these ladies can offer love but for a price. Pretty cool seeing as I’d love to be involved in advertising in the coming years! We passed more carvings of gladiators as we approached the Great Theatre of Ephesus. In its time, this theatre could hold more than 44,000 people. As we entered, the tour guide of a Japanese tour group was giving a performance, singing a song in Ancient Greek. The sheer magnitude of this theatre can almost not be appreciated from up close—it may have been the largest one in all of the Greek or Roman Empires.
The Great Theatre of Ephesus:
Across from the theatre are the ruins of the Gymnasium where gladiators would practice in the nude. The ruins are adorned with symbols of the gladiators and victory: wolves, bulls, rams, goats, and lions. We walked through these ruins and headed out the South gate of Ephesus to continue our tour to other locations for the day. As we had some extra time, our tour guide decided to show us more of the Turkish culture by taking us to some cooperatives in the area. Our first stop was at the Ephesus Ceramics Production Center where we were shown how pottery is made, painted, colored, decorated, and cooked in a kiln to harden. We were then brought into their showroom where I finally found a Hittite Wine Jug that I had been looking for the whole trip! These jugs look like they have a massive doughnut in the middle of them that users put their arms through to pour the wine. After some haggling I made off with the jug for 300TL.
Our guide then took us to a production center called “Galata” where we had a lavish feast for lunch. It seemed like each course was a meal in its own! We ate fairly quickly before walking to a Turkish silk rug factory. In here we were shown how the silk is taken from the cocoons of silk worms and woven on a machine. Then we were shown how the workers weave each and every knot of the rug, often taking over a year to make a complete one! The whole process amazed me, but it could not tempt the college kid that I am to spend over 2500TL on a silk rug, even after a cup of free Turkish coffee. Next door was a jewelry store where we got to see how diamonds are cut and set on jewelry. Another cool thing that they do at Turkish jewelry stores is a gold style called “Fibula.” This style consists of wrapping eighteen karat gold with twenty-four karat gold and the finish product has a dull sort of luster to it that resembles the great Ottoman treasures. Our next stop was at a leather factory called “Naturel” where we were given our very own personal fashion show! As Turkey is a Muslim nation, most of the people in the country do not eat Pork as it is against Islam practices. Therefore, the people eat a ton of Lamb. These lamb hides are then donated to the state to create ultra-high quality leather sold at outlets like these. The best part of the fashion show was that Jen was recruited to show off one of the jackets herself! We did not buy anything here, and after a quick stop at a Turkish treat store where I purchased some Turkish Delights to bring home to friends, we were back on the sightseeing trail.
St. John's Basilica:
Our Ephesus ruins tour picked up again at St. John’s Basilica. This church was constructed in the sixth century and housed the tomb and bones of John the Apostle before his body was looted by Crusaders. The church stands in remarkable condition atop a hill in Selçuk below a more modern Ottoman fort. We walked around the premises of the Basilica before heading down the hill to the Isa Bey Mosque constructed in the fourteenth century. The visit inside the mosque was quick as it was almost prayer time, however we walked around the courtyard outside filled with Ottoman tombstones and Ancient Greek columns. Tayfun explained how most of the columns for both the mosque and the basilica above were “recycled” from the Temple of Artemis, our next stop. We drove farther down the hill to the site of the Temple of Artemis. Here stands only one remaining column of the over one-hundred that were built in the fifth-century BC. This temple was once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Walking around this plot of land, I was filled with an eerie sense of wonder and awe as such a remarkable structure had both been built, revered, and destroyed on that very ground. This was our last stop of the wonderful tour, and this feeling stayed with me for the whole car ride back to Izmir. It also seemed to spark an extreme desire to learn more about Ancient History. Furthermore, Tayfun explained to me that twenty-two separate civilizations had come through Anatolia (Asia-Minor) over the course of human history. Absolutely stunning.
The Temple of Artemis:
We were dropped off by our tour van at the hotel and decided to catch a couple sites of Izmir before the sun went down as we were leaving the following day. We walked around the town to the ongoing excavation of the Agora of Smyrna and to the Izmir clock tower at the waterfront. We watched a beautiful sunset before walking through the Konak Pier, a mall right on the waterfront, and heading back for a quick nap before dinner. On our way back I also got to try Ayran, which is basically a drink of yogurt and water that tastes like salty milk—not necessarily for me. Unfortunately, we had requested that a dinner reservation be made at a place I had heard about, but the hotel reception mixed up our wishes. We got a taxi all the way (and 38TL) to the restaurant outside of the city before walking inside and learning that it was closed for a wedding, so we had to find our way (and 20+TL) back to another restaurant. We settled on a wonderful place called Boğaziçi Restaurant right on the water where I ate some fried calamari, Seabream, and drank a nice Turkish Chardonnay. The fish was delicious, and I should remind people that when you order balik at Turkish restaurants, it usually comes out to you with bones, scales, eyes, and all! Though, if it is a nice establishment, they will usually offer to clean the fish for you. We headed back to our hotel after dinner to get some sleep after such a long day—this day was by far the most packed of the trip, however the sites we saw were truly remarkable and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. That being said, I would return in an instant.
The Izmir Sunset:
