Finally to Ephesus
Trip Start
Aug 11, 2007
1
35
68
Trip End
Nov 08, 2007
Selcuk,
Turkey
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Decided to head to Ephesus in the afternoon as there are supposed to be less crowds then - the day trippers from Kusadasi get taken to there in the mornings usually
Cybele/Aphrodite in the Museum
. So that gave us time to visit the Museum in the morning. This museum holds the significant moveable finds from the excavations at Ephesus and at the site of the Temple of Aprodite (which was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, but is now just a forlorn column and bits of rubble - most of it was used to build the St Johns Basilica and the AyaSofia in Istanbul). The museum displays are very impressive and even more interesting was a special exhibit on gladiators. One recent excavation in at Ephesus has uncovered a gladiators graveyard As well as the grave epitaths and offerings, the researchers have been using modern forensic techniques to determine cause of death for some of the people buried there and the exhibit showed a few of these along with the type of gladiator they were, estimated age and graphics of how they might have died (not gory stuff, but useful when linked to their profession). Really interesting!On the way back to the hotel, we saw that there was a gap in the tour buses at the ST John Basilica so took the opportunity to look around these ruins. Obviously not as old as the Ephesus ones, since this is the ruin of a huge church complex built by one of the Byzantine Emperors over what is supposed to be the tomb of St John (of the Revelations fame). But impressive never the less. And interesting finding bits of old Greek and Roman columns and stone blocks used as building materials for the "newer" complex
From a frieze from Ephesus
.Hotel Bella have a complementary shuttle service to and from the Ephesus site for guests and on the way out there, he dropped us at a small camp where local women make delicious Gozleme - a very, very thin rolled out dough circle, filled with various meat, vege and/or cheese fillings, then folded up and cooked on a plate over an open fire. We watched them make our lunch - amazing how fast they can get the dough from a roundlump out into this huge incredibly thin pancake! They were also making Manti - very tiny Turkish filled dumplings or ravioli, which are boiled and served with a sauce.
And then on to the Ephesus Site. It is magnificent and it is worth the $10 entry fee. What we liked even more perhaps than the main site, were the under cover excavations of some of the terrace houses that once lined then main street (and at and additional $10 pp entry fee!). These were insulae - Roman apartment houses - some small, some extensive palaces, others converted from larger to smaller dwellings in the later years when Ephesus was declining. They excavations have uncovered several stories of these buildings, including marble columns, floor mosaics and even wall paintings in excellent states of preservation.
While there were several tour groups going through at the same time as us, the site is big enough that this wasn't really an issue - unlike the day before when it had been jammed with people.
Comments
In the public latrines...
We see you making your contribution to 3000 years of history Chris. I take it the seat was warm, were the sewers still working? ABC, ABT.
Actually, read the blog right through - excellent start to your travel book Tina, only a few extra paragraphs required! When do you start your holiday? Greece we hope. Sloppy rainy day in Jaffa land makes us more envious. Please post profile shot of Chris so we can measure girth increase.