We started our day at 8am with our new (female) guide Feliz, in order to try to beat the cruise ship crowds. The 4000 passenger Mariner of the Seas was in port at Kusadesi, along with a smaller Norwegian ship, so there was lots of incentive to hustle.
We started at the House of the Virgin Mary, Meryemana in Turkish. Mary is said to have accompanied John the Apostle on his travels, ending here in Selçuk, where they lived out their last days. There is no historical evidence to support this, but three popes have visited (Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict) the site and have anointed it a holy place. So it's become quite a pilgrimage spot for Catholics on holy site tours. Really there's not much to see, just an altar or shrine, a little non-original house, and a pretty garden. While we were there, there was a priest doing mass too.
A couple of the same popes have visited St. John's basilica nearby our hotel too, where John the Apostle's tomb is said to be, and where he may have written his gospel. The basilica is in ruins, but there is historical evidence of a church or shrine dedicated to St. John and a tomb from the early Christian period, though obviously no confirmation that the tomb ever held St. John's relics. Once again though the popes' visits have made it a holy place.
As a ruin it's fascinating. The basilica itself was built by emperor Justinian's favourite architect Isadore in the 6th century (the Ayasofya's chief architect) along a similar floor plan. Six huge domes topped it, and if it were reconstructed, it would be the 7th largest cathedral in the world today. A cruciform baptismal pool can be found on site, as well as the remains of an altar. In behind it there is a Byzantine castle, which is unfortunately not open to the public yet, but is in the process of being restored.
The basilica was an important place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years, But with the decline in importance of Ephesus and after Arab raids, the basilica fell into ruins until the Seljuk Aydinoglu clan converted it into a mosque in 1330. The building was then completely destroyed in 1402 by Tamerlane's Mongol army.
After the Virgin Mary's house, we went to Ephesus. Entered at the upper gate and walked down the Sacred Way through the ancient city. The upper city was reserved to the VIPs and the wealthy, while the common folk had to content themselves with the lower city.
According to ancient inscriptions, Ephesus is thought to have been inhabited since around 3000 BC, roughly the same time as Smyrna, and evidence of Ion, Roman, Byzantine, Seljukian and Ottoman civilisations are still seen today. The ancient city was a good centre for trading, mainly because of its location close to coast, and religion. It was known for the cult of Cybele, the Anatolian fertility goddess, then later for Artemis, the virgin goddess for which a colossal temple was built in her honour.
The temple was destroyed in 356BC, and when Alexander the Great passed through in 334 BC he offered to pay for the cost of a new construction, provided it was dedicated to him. The Ephesus people declined, and rebuilt it with great success.
When the Romans made Ephesus their provincial capital, it became a busy town with great commercial, trading and political importance, and a population that grew to around 250,000. A significant Christian community grew, and the city was visited by St John the Evangelist in the 1st century, then by St Paul, who was there between 51-53 AD and wrote some of his epistles. It was also the venue of two Ecumenical Councils.
But the success of Roman Ephesus began to dwindle, mainly because of problems connected to the harbour, which was the main source of trade. The Cayster River was pushing silt up the harbour and despite attempts to dredge it and rebuild the harbour, the sea was pushed back to Pamucak, 4km away, and therefore Ephesus lost its source of wealth. By the 6th century, the city was unliveable and was shifted near to St John's Basilica, and by 1090 it was taken over by the Turks.
This huge ruins are among the best preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean, and we ought to have taken a lot more time with it than we did. But we were anxious to get ahead of the cruise ship tour groups, and it was a bloody hot day.
The highlights of our visit were-
Arkadiane (Port Street) Beyond the church is Arcadiane Way, a huge wide street over 500m long and 11m wide. Named after 5th century Byzantine Emperor Arcadius who renovated it, it was the street which ran towards the port, and where kings were greeted and religious ceremonies took place. The 400m long Marble Street, also known as Sacred Way, begins at the base of the theatre and runs alongside the agora and Serapis Temple, and was rebuilt during the 5th century.
Theatre This is one of most beautiful and best preserved of all the ruins, and is used as the venue for the annual Ephesus Festival. With a capacity of 25,000, it was built during the Hellenistic period, with reconstruction continuing during Empire Claudius's times, and finalised between 98-117 AD.
Marble Street Marble floored street that starts from Magnesia gate placed at south - east of Ephesus and lie towards the Koresos gate placed at north - west of city, approximately 400 m long street is rebuilt at the 5th AC.
Library of Celsus The library is adjacent to the commercial Agora, built by Asian consul Gaius Julius Aquila, in 135AD, in memory of his father who is entombed here. In a building showing all the characteristics of Roman architecture, the front is ornately decorated with replicas of statues of four women between the front columns, symbolising mind, destiny, science and wisdom. The originals are in the Vienna Museum.
Temple of Domitian This is the first temple to be built in the name of an emperor, dedicated to Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96). Opposite this was the governmental agora, which was placed in the most central and beautiful place in the city. The head and arms are the only remaining pieces of the huge statue, which are exhibited at Izmir Archaeology Museum, and the entrance pedestals are at Ephesus Museum.
The terraced or slope houses. These are a on a separate ticket and you can see the archaeologists at work excavating and preserving these incredible examples of upper class life in Roman Asia Minor. There are 6 joined houses, like townhouses almost, arranged around a shared courtyard. It's also thought they shared kitchen facilities as I think only one kitchen has been found. Wonderful mosaics grace the walls and floors.
All in all we stayed no more than 2 hours at Ephesus!
Because we went through Ephesus so quickly - a disappointment to have been so ruthless, I must say, though I hardly recognized it as such at the time - we decided to continue on to Didyma, Miletos and lastly Prienne after lunch. These had been scheduled for the next day, but it made more sense to do them this day. Really glad we did too. We would have been sick to death of temples and ruins otherwise, and these three sites were really very interesting. We had them nearly to ourselves.
We did not physically visit the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, since today it's no more than a single, albeit colossal, column in a swamp.
I will note that we saw its twin, the colossal temple of Apollo, at Didyma. Comparing it to Aphrodite's temple, for example, the colossal temples are staggering large. You'll have to look up the dimensions (124 columns on the long side?) and hopefully we have the photos to show you.
And that's it boys and girls. I quit. Lisa.
Here is an enactment that took place.
