Day 11 Efes... Ephesus

It was a long hot day, but beautiful. We were up and at 'em relatively early to beat the heat. It's Phoenix type heat and we had a long hard walk ahead in ancient Ephesus, about 15 miles or so from our hotel. They have been excavating and restoring the ancient city of Ephesus for more than 100 years, with teams of German and Austrian archaelogists working pretty much non stop. It is incredible.. the greatest glories date to the centuries before the time of Christ up thru the early Christian era. Most of you will recognize the city name as the name of the town to which St. Paul wrote his famous letter to the Ephesians. It was a city of perhaps a couple hundred thousand, perhaps one of the biggest cities of the day. Back then it was also a harbor, though time has silted in miles of land and now it sits well away from the harbors. It also is on its third location, between two sizable mountains that gave it good defences, kept it away from the mosquitoes that spread disease, and provided places to build after the devastation of earthquakes and invaders, both of which were perhaps common.

Legend says that the ruler who selected this third site did so after consulting a local oracle. The oracle did whatever oracles do, and muttered things about fish and wild boar (our guide was only semi amused that I called that surf and turf, but the native English speakers at least thought it was funny. In any case, said ruler was apparently barbecuing a fish when it caught fire and popped off the grill, into a bush, where it was devoured by a passing boar. Voila, urban planning.

Whatever, it is magnificent. What is there is more than a mile of marble road, flanked all along the way by buildings and public spaces in great restoration. There is an amphitheater that could have seated 24,000... and still seats nearly that many; a smaller lecture area, public baths and potties (that had running water all the time); a library that held 12,000 manuscripts before an earthquake wiped it out; a brothel; homes, shops, worship spaces, and much more. We started at one end, walked to the other. There were pretty big crowds, from all over... I heard 8 or 10 languages at least... but the crowds and foreign visitors would have been there at the heyday of Ephesus, too, so it wasn't a distraction really. It was an amazing three hours or so that we spent there.

Then we hopped on the bus, had lunch at a roadside restaurant ( I have had more eggplant in the last 11 days than in my whole life and it's all been good... no one does veggies better than the Turkish cooks.)

Next, straight up one of the two mountains flanking Efes... and I do mean straight up. More hairpins than a hair salon..... up, up, up. We were on the way to Mary's house. The Virgin Mary,that is. Legend and increasing religious belief says that after the crucifixion, John brought her here to Ephesus. We know he was here since he wrote the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos, just off the coast here. There is much local legend as well that she was here and died here. The beautiful shrine on top of the mountain is truly lovely --- set in a piny wood, very modest and serene. Muslims, of course, revere Mary as a good woman and as the mother of a major prophet, so the little chapel is as often visited by Muslims as by Christians... very lovely and the way things ought to be,I think. Don and I visited here years ago, but the site is much more preserved now, part of a lovely park with a walkway to the baptismal pool that was found at the site as well as the shrine.

I said a prayer for peace, just as I have in all the mosques we've visited.

Speaking of mosques.... just one more. It is so hard to quit! This was the pre-Ottoman mosque of Isa Bey in the town of Efes itself. In the process of renovation. The shopkeeper in the shadows of the mosque whipped out photos of the mosque over the year, and then cut his prices in half when he found out we were teachers. My big splurge was a cd of ottoman miltary music. Just wait till you hear it!

We then hung out a while in a tea garden, having a relaxation break before we came back to the hotel to do more laundry and catch up on chores. Tomorrow we sleep in, with a half day off. Then most of us are going to Izmir to see ancient Smyrna, meet with a Turkish teacher, and tackle the bazaar if we have time. I hope to see where we used to live .... I still remember the address!