Zeus Pension Selcuk

... by large mountains. We learned that there were seven universities in Izmir, but only 10% of the applicants are accepted. Military service of 18 months is compulsory for men. It can get broiling hot in the summer. Itek said it was 125 in the shade this year.<br> The Turks originally were Mongols who invaded, and the country has been conquered many times. When Ataturk took over, he forbade the veil and fez. A new day for Turkey!<br> We continued to drive past ...

... He spoke all through the tour about the extensive history of the place with pride and passion.<br><br>The ruins are buried under layers of earth and this process whereby a thriving community gets lost over centuries by being interred is a mystery to us really. The quality of the stonework at Ephesus mirrored that we had seen in Greece and the expertise of the stone workers astonished us. Also the extent of the complex with its way down to what used to be the Aegean Sea until ...

... of the earthquake, many buildings fell and dirt buried a lot of the city, which, actually helped to preserve it. In order to reveal the main walkway, archaeologists had to dig down 10 metres. The library that has been built as they think it looked is built with about 50% of the original materials. It is believed that when the earthquake happened, those that survived moved to another area nearby and when they needed materials, they simply ...

... women!. Ephesus is the famous ruins nearby and they continue to uncover this site .. very impressive. It was also Ramadan so it was a strange combination of experiences since we were awaken everyday at 4am (well actually I slept through it) with a small parade and drum announcing the call to prayer (and then10 times a day) while we visited the House of Mary and St. John's Basilica. Did not buy a rug which is the most popular thing they sell.

... mother of Jesus, to here after Jesus was gone. In here he wrote the three epistles that traditionally attributed to him, now they are part of the New Testament, and both of them died here. Within the city of Selchuk there is Basilica of St. John, built where he was supposed to be buried, and about 7 km outside of the city there is the tomb believed to be Mary&#8217;s, found after a German nun had a vision, in which she saw the location of the tomb. Nowadays it is a place where ...

... be seen from the hotel terrace! The Bella Hotel is across the street from the historic St. John the Baptist Basilica, so visiting it was easy. It is here that a 4th century tomb was believed to house his remains, so Emperor Justinian erected an enormous church on top of his tomb. Apparently, St. John visited Ephesus between AD 37 and 48, with the Virgin Mary, and again in AD 95, when he wrote his gospel near the end of his life. The local museum ...

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... It was a free-for-all and at times, you needed to have your elbows out and a wide, strong stance to maintain a low center of gravity to avoid being knocked over. It was kind of like shopping Christmas Eve at West Ed. (Good thing that is not our anniversary!). We prepared for a much busier day of walking through the ruins the next morning, and after another Turkish breakfast of tomatoes, cheese, watermelon, olives, bread ...

... eavesdropping the English guides to pick up tidbits of info. This leads past a medium sized stone amphitheatre which was used for affairs of state, and on down to the ruins of a Hamam (bath house) and latrine with stone bogs! The grandly proportioned arcade continues down to the outstanding and beautiful Library of Celsus whose elegant and fully intact facade still holds four ...