Ephesus

Mary's house

On wedneday October 23^rd I had a day tour to Ephesus.  The tour didn’t start until 9am, so I enjoyed a café latte at one of the local restaurants in central Kusadasi, before being picked up.  We went to 3 areas on the tour – the Virgin Mary’s house and final resting place, the ruins of Ephesus and the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (Greek Goddess of Hunting).  The Temple of Artemis was one of the Ancient Wonders of the World (of which only the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt are left standing to this day).  Ephesus was the city where Paul the Apostle preached to the Ephesians, and wrote his letter to the Ephesians in the new testament of the Bible.  The modern city of Selcuk is located quite near Ephesus, where we picked up our guide for the tour.  At the time Ephesus was inhabited, it was located by sea, but due to erosion and earthquakes among other things, it is now located 12km from the shore.  The tour group was very small – just myself and family from Pakistan and our guide Guray.  Our driver was Ismai. 

  The Virgin Mary’s house was a stone structure located up in the hills above Ephesus.  There is a natural spring there, and a large pool that may have been used for Baptizing.  It was very peaceful.

 


 The ruins of Ephesus took over 2 hours to walk through and explore.  Some of the major structures still intact included:  Large gates, Roman Baths, The Library, the Town Hall, Terrace houses (where the rich lived) and a massive Amphitheatre.  They have only uncovered 20% of the area so far.  The façade of the library was beautiful – large columns, and carved statues.  It reminded me of Petra – with the intricate carvings and grand nature of the buildings.  The Amphitheatre was overwhelming – this is where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians.  Over the coarse of history with earthquakes, wars and other events – the city of Ephesus moved – in total to 3 locations.  The site we explored was the 3^rd location.  Some of the carvings were very detailed – 2 Greek Gods were seen – Hermes the Messenger and Nikea – Goddess of Athletics.  The floors were made of marble in many areas and there were detailed mosaic patterns on the floors of the Terrace Houses.  A truly magnificent sight. 

Roman bath house

Roman columns at Ephesus

Town Hall - Ephesus

Main street in Ephesus

The Library of Celsus

Ephesus

Hermes the Messenger God

Nikea - Goddess of Athletics

Restoration work - marble mosaic floors

Facade of the Library of Celsus

Entrance to the Agora

Our guide Guray

Amphitheatre where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians

View from the top of the Amphitheatre

The last standing pillar at the Temple of Artemis

Little remains of the Temple of Artemis – only one stone column of the 127 stone columns in the original structure is there.  There are some stones there, but really you must imagine what it had been like in its heyday.  

How many turtles do you see?

We got to see some of the local reptiles in the area - pretty cool.