Kusadasi, Turkey.

We arrived in Kusadasi, our stopover port in Turkey, while we were having breakfast, as is always the case, and hurried off the ship to find a taxi to take us to Ephesus which is about half an hours drive north of the port.  We found Levo next in the taxi line and settled our price with him before setting off.

Levo with Barb and myself

Les and Dave had been to Ephesus on their trip last year so decided to rather relax on the ship and take an amble into town a bit later on.

Entry into Ephesus was 25 Turkish Lira each which caused a bit of a hassle to change Euros.  We entered through the Magnesia Gate and walked down the Marble Road absolutely in awe seeing all the ruins of a once beautiful city.   A bit of history -

"Over the centuries, a succession of empires - Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and finally Ottoman - ruled over the city of Ephesus.  Yet no matter how many times it changedd hands, the city remained one of the most vibrant metropolises of the ancient world.  Located on Turkey's western coast, nearly 300,000 people lived there at its height in the second century A.D.  Its busy seaport ferried goods from Asia to Greece, Italy and beyond.

Ephesus' greatest claim to fame was its temple to the goddess Artemis.  One of the "seven wonders" of the ancient world, it was almost four times larger than the Parthenon in Athens.  According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul preached in Ephesus, prompting a riot led by silversmiths who crafted shrines to the goddess and feared for both their livelihoods and the future of the temple".  Today, a few columns are all that remain of the temple and we unfortunately did not get to see it.

Facade of the Library

The most impressive structure in the restored city is the facade of the Library of Celsus. Built long after Paul was there (between 115-125 CE) by a son to honor his father who was the governor of the province of Asia, it is thought to represent the standard monumental form of the Roman library. It faced the East, probably for better lighting, and contained a collection of less than 15,000 rolls.  Between the library and the theater, carved in one of the paving stones of the street is an advertisement for the brothel . The Goths destroyed the library when they invaded in 265 CE.

The road the Apostle Paul walked from the harbour to the theater.

Paul began his first visit to Ephesus where we ended ours - at the theater. He would have landed at the ancient port of Ephesus and walked the mile or so east toward the city along Arcadian Street facing the theater. We began our visit at the eastern end of this ancient city ruin, walked west down Curetes Street, also called the Marble Road, and ended our tour at the theater. The harbor is no more and the coast line is about 5km away due to silt deposits from the Cayster River over the centuries.

The last attempts to stop the filling up of the port by the river were made during the 2nd century A.D. They were all unsuccessful. This caused the city to loose its trade links to the other cities by the sea. And it was the beginning of the end for the city of Ephesus.

The Great Theatre which has in parts been reconstructed

Part of the arch is the original construction

   

Public latrines

                     I still can't get my head around this!  Note the provision for water-borne sewerage on the left!  Boy that trough was deep!

A milestone

These milestones were used on the old Roman Roads.

One of the many stalls on the way out of Ephesus

Levo's family business

On our way back to the ship Levo asked if we would like to visit his family business selling Turkish carpets.  I'm sure he does this with all of his clients and of course we said that we would love to see but we probably were not going to buy!!  Unfortunately there had been a power cut in the town so it was difficult to see very well in the dark but the handmade carpets and rugs were really beautiful.  Alas, no sales for the family!

We then made another stop at a wholesale leather outlet (also owned by a friend of Levo) and oh my word what beautiful garments.  The owner gave us a bit of a sales talk which was actually quite interesting and told us that this leather is known as "silk" leather and yes it really was very soft.  Dave tried on a beautiful off-white jacket and very confidently said that he had no intention of ever taking it off - until he worked out the price at over R5000!!  He took it off quite smartly!!  Unfortunately none of us took any photos.  The smell of leather in that place was oh so delicious!

After lunch Dave and I left the ship to explore the fascinating Turkish markets outside the port gate - the Grand Bazaar and Orient Bazaar.  They were obviously very touristy but nevertheless quite quaint; very small shop spaces but boy how they could cram them full to overflowing!  We bought some beautiful silk/cotton scarves for our four girls.  Hope they will like them!

Silk/Cotton Scarves

 
And our favourite - Turkish Delight made in Turkey!!!

Turkish delight

Today was a full, busy day so off back to the ship we went to dress for dinner; informal tonight but it still means jackets for the men and smart/casual for ladies.

We left the shores of Turkey at about 5.45pm for our next port of call, Rhodes.  Please join me on our next excursion to what has been one of our favourite islands on this trip.

The 4 of us returning to the ship at lunchtime.