Ephesus

We are not going to try to appear knowledgeable about the city of Ephesus, the capital of Roman Asia and at one time the second-largest city in the world, after Rome. It appears in the New Testament as a major place where St Paul preached, it is also where Mary escaped and supposedly spent her last days.

The city once had the finest harbor in the Eastern Mediterranean, but like many on this coast it silted up and the city was largely abandoned during Byzantine times. It has also suffered from earthquakes and looting.

There's a basic route through the city that starts on the high ground and works down to the old harbor. Downhill is good on a hot day. These are the "Agora Baths", i.e. a bathhouse next to the main forum and market area.

A view from the hillside behind the baths. The bayou seen in the middle is the old harbor, now many miles inland.

This is not a street exactly, but is the remains of the Basilica Stoa, a 2-story, 2-thousand year old covered shopping mall. The Romans were savage in many ways, but they had a very sophisticated lifestyle for 2,000 years ago.

This is not a theater, it's the Bouleterion, which was a covered assembly hall where the head honchos met and determined policy, a city hall of sorts. The Stoa seen above is on the left, the admiral is the dark figure standing to the right in the stands.

Who's this in the vomitorium? Yep, that's him, although we hasten to add that vomitorium is the Latin for the entrance gate to a theater.

A view back up the Stoa, minus touristas.

Domitian's Temple, or what's left of it.

Yes, she's still held on a pedestal.

The main drag down to the harbor.

Hadrian's Temple

A detail from a lentil.

A view from the Temple to the Library.

The guards feed the city's cats, thus ensuring a continuity of kitties. Note the mosaic floor and built-in bench behind them.

We visited some fancy houses on a terrace. Here's a deep marble bathtub built-into a wall. Most houses had plumbing and running water, at least in the upscale part of town.

They didn't have wallpaper but hey did have artisans to paint on stucco. When they got tired of the decor they would paint over it.

They also had mosaic floors, each unique.

Most feature mythical figures.

They are about the size and serve the same purpose as an area rug in a room.

Some houses had central heating via hypocaust.

This is the view from the terrace houses: the theater is by the crane, the harbor was on the upper left.

It was eerie thinking we might be sitting where Paul or Mary rested. Unlike Jerusalem, which is mostly Medieval, Ephesus is pretty much what was there 2000 years ago.

The remains of the Library of Celsus, one of the most complete buildings in Ephesus.

This is the famous Theater of Ephesus, where Paul preached, which had a capacity of some 25,000.

This was basically the end of the road through town. We wanted to find the church where St John was buried, but just ran out of time.

On the way out, more Ataturk worship - they just love this guy.

Honesty in advertising.

The rather bizzarely fecund statue to the goddess Artemis, the patron of Ephesus.

As usual, we have many more pics but fear our loyal readers will tire of another couple pages of statuary. We wish we had seen a few more items, e.g. the church built by St John and what is supposed to be Mary's house, but we were pressed for time and got a late start here. This was our last historical site in Turkey. We hope you will share our visit to Greece, which we should complete Real Soon Now.

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