Having decided to stay in Greek waters this summer, though we are only a few miles from the Turkish coast, we headed to the island of Samos, to rendezvous with Katherine & Craig again, and from where we left Deep Blue & Sangaris tied to the town quay while we all took a 90 minute ferry ride over to Kusadasi in Turkey and jumped onto a coach for a guided tour of one of the best-preserved classical cities in the Mediterranean - Ephesus.
Dating back to 600BC it was not by chance that Ancient Ephesus became such an important place. The sea came much further inland back then and the harbour at Ephesus became a rich and powerful trading place of goods and people from the east and west. Under Roman rule, it was the capital of Asia Minor, had a population of 25,000, and was the third largest city in the world. It also acquired a sizeable Christian congregation and St. John supposedly settled here with the Virgin Mary. However, the harbour eventually silted up and, as trade declined, so too did Ephesus' power and influence.
The site today offers an excellent insight into an ancient city. Whilst the main features of a city such as the gymnasium, stadium, baths, temples and marketplace, are all present, it is the sheer size of the site and how it was all managed that amazes you. Terracotta pipes were built throughout the city to take all waste water out to sea, and to provide both hot and cold water to the buildings. The impressive mosaic pavements outside the 'high-end' shops along the Sacred Way, that sold silks, wines and food from all over the world, are well preserved.
And then you arrive at the Library of Celsus. It held 12,000 scrolls in niches around its walls and a 1m gap between the outer and inner wall protected valuable books from extremes of temperature and humidity. Niches on the façade hold statues that represent the virtues of Goodness, Thought, Knowledge and Wisdom.
Our guide for the day did a great job of explaining all the important features to us, but we decided to break away from the tour towards the end to visit part of the city that wasn't included on our itinerary, and which we had been told we must not miss - the magnificent Terraced Houses. These were homes of the rich and famous of Ephesus, in a prime location overlooking the harbour, Library and temples. Things don't seem to change much today!
The additional admission charge of 15TL per person probably puts some people off visiting them, but not to visit them is not to visit Ephesus. They still stand on two storeys; their walls are covered in frescoes and their floors in elaborate mosaics. These people knew all about luxury.
We were told that what you see today is only 20% of what is actually there. A joint team of archaeologists from Turkey, Austria and Germany have spent over 100 years excavating and continue to do so today, slowly peeling away the layers to give us an insight into the past.
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