Ephesus, Turkey

Today we went to the ruins of Ephesus. The apostle Paul spent time here and preached to the Ephesians in the Great Theater. The town dates back to the 7th-6th century BC and was a Greek city which then developed into a significant Roman provincial capital. The area was inhabited even until Byzantine times. At one time it had 300,000 inhabitants. Ephesus was a port city on the Meander River, but over the centuries the river has left a silty delta and the port is now a few miles away. The town was quite advanced with indoor plumbing and heating using pipes filled with hot oil. There are terrace houses that have been excavated in recent years. We went through them, seeing frescoes and mosaics dating back to the 2nd century BC. The floors and walls of many of the houses were decorated with thin sheets of marble. These are in thousands of pieces, which the archaeologists have laying on tables as they piece them together like a huge puzzle. The sections they have pieced together are placed on the walls and floors of the homes to show what they looked like. Other parts of the excavated town include the Library of Celsus, which is modeled after Petra. It is quite impressive. There is a Great Theater which could seat over 25,000 people. Near this is the gymnasium. There also is a Temple of Hadrian, the Roman Emperor. After exploring Ephesus, we rode back to Kusadasi, the port city nearby. The countryside is very green…not what I expected to see in Turkey. Kusadasi is a pretty area with beaches and small resorts. There even are 2 water parks, including the 3rd largest one in the world (according to our guide). It is certainly a place worth a return trip.