We chose to fly from Antalya to Izmir and arranged for a private tour of nearby Ephesus. Our guide, Kerem picked us up at our hotel, took us to Ephesus and then gave us a tour of his beautiful city of Izmir.
There is no longer a city of Ephesus. It is actually a collection of ruins on the outskirts of the small town of Selçuk, which has it’s own fascinating story.
According to legend, the acropolis (hill town) was once occupied by the Amazons. They worshipped a goddess of fertility and hunting. When a group of Greek colonists arrived and created the first town of Ephesus (there have been four), they adopted the goddess, naming her Artemis and constructed a temple that came to be known as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.”
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| All that's left of the Temple of Artemis |
More legends abound. The Apostle John allegedly settled here with Christ’s mother Mary after the crucifixion of Jesus. We visited the house where Mary is supposed to have lived out her life. The tomb of St John is thought to be under the basilica in Selçuk. As an aside, Mary is revered in Islam and, I am told, is mentioned more in the Koran than in the Bible. I was also excited to learn that one of my heroes, Ibn Battuta, visited Selçuk in the 14th century.
The ruined city of Ephesus is the greatest ruined city I’ve ever visited (and that includes Pompeii). I won’t say a lot about it, though, because the internet has tons of information. I’ll include a few snapshots before making one more point.
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| Kerem & Judy in the theatre (of course) |
For me, the most memorable part of the day was spent exploring an enclosed excavation site called “the Terrace Houses.” For an extra fee, one is allowed to enter a vast enclosed section and see the ongoing work being done to restore a collection of houses created during the Roman period.
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| An aerial view of the covering |
I am glad Judy pushed us to make this trip and believe it will remain one of the highlights of our travels over the last five years.
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| Library |
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