Ephesus

One of the main reasons for our choice of cruise line for our recent adventure in the Cyclades was that we wanted to visit Ephesus. As a result of recent political tensions between Turkey and certain other nations many of the larger cruise companies have of late eschewed the customary stopover at nearby Kuşadası – thus ruling themselves out as far as we were concerned.

On Ephesus the ever resourceful Wikipedia offers us this:

“Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC.

The city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Among many other monumental buildings are the Library of Celsus, and a theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators.

Ephesos was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th-century Christian Councils (see Council of Ephesus).

The city was destroyed by the Goths in 263, and although rebuilt, the city’s importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in AD 614.”

But enough of the chit-chat… what you want is the pictures! Here they be!

Our excursion included the ongoing archeological dig on the site of the astonishing ‘Terrace Houses’ – luxury ‘apartments’ cut into the hillside (so as to keep them cool!). These featured central heating, plumbing and all mod cons.