Greg

Ephesus : Ancient City

So we finally arrived near Ephesus, in the outlying town of Selcuk. (Ephesus itself is in ruins and no longer habitable except for the cat population).

Seljuk’s museum had some great artefacts including the famous Artemis of Ephesus if you’ve ever studied art history you will be familiar with her and it was amazing after all this time to finally see her in real life (not just a book). Tried the local pomegranate juice, ewww sour!
Saw the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (thats 2 now – if you’re counting!) which has sunk into the ground, now the domain of geese, goslings and tiny turtles. Lovely spot.

Nesting birds in the city

Sunken Temple

Temple of Artemis

Ephesus

My city now!

Up early to see the great city of Ephesus. The entire site was amazing, now part owned by local cats who will pose in front of temples for you, it consists of the original streets, main city centre, library, houses, baths, amphitheatre all the way to the docks.

We saw some amazing sights, and I loved walking down the main street, Curetes Way, imaginging all the shops selling silks, lamps, spices etc!

Walk with me down Curetes Way by clicking the video below!

It was so intriguing to learn about society through the architecture.
For example the toilets were like a members club, where members would be able to use the facilities, have a good chat, while a slave boy had a stick with a sponge to scrub you off….

Using the graffiti found we believe next door was one of the cities more famous brothels (right in the centre of town).

We were able to wander in through the Painted Houses – a series of houses that are still being excavated, watching archeologists slowly uncover beautiful wall paintings and mosaics in ancient living rooms and hallways…. (see below)

Most impressive is the Library of Ephesus, with the amazing facade still standing down the bottom of Curetes Way.

We wandered through the city down to the enormous amphitheatre, climbing up the steps to see the unbelievable view across the city and the harbour.

Walking down the columned road to the harbour we found grooves on the columns that held lamps at night. One can only imagine how magical Ephesus would be at night, with twinkling lamps lining all the way from the harbour into the city proper.

Thanks to Modaretto for this image

After our energetic walking we ate a wonderful Imam Bayaldi. Greg told me the story of its name, Imam Balyaldi which means the Sultan Fainted. The dish is named after a story of a Sultan who married the woman who made this dish. She was from a wealthy oil merchant family and her dowry was 10 bottles of olive oil. Each night he requested this dish for dinner but on the 11th night she brought him something else. When questioned why, she explained that she used all his precious olive oil (including her dowry) to make the dish, and when he heard this, he fainted!

Sirince – hippy mountain town

We were urged to visit Sirince, a nearby town in the mountains where the local market was going on.
And, of course, we found an amazing restaurant. Top place on tripadvisor and it was amazing. Unfortunately they didn’t speak english so the family got some guys around the corner to come and translate for us!
It was one of the best meals we had in Turkey, home made, family recipes. We ate amazing manti, and a special eggplant/aubergine & tomato dish with sliced thistle root – delicious!
I was lucky to get some earrings from a famous jeweller who also made the jewellry for TROY (the movie).
Wander around buying jewellery from the guy who made pieces for Troy! Beautiful!