KUSADASI/ The Ruins of Ephesus

November 18, 2011
Efe, Ephesa, Ephesus was founded about 3,000 years ago and has an impressive collection of ruins. Only about 15% of the city has been excavated in the last 100 plus years and at the rate it is taking will take up to 3,000 more years to complete. The findings are spectacular.
Ionian Greeks settled this part of Asia Minor as early as the 10^th century B.C. They founded cities, and rapidly became an important commercial zone. Man of the earliest Greek philosophers and thinkers lived her along the Ionian coast, and not in mainland Greece. The conflict that led to the Greek-Persian Wars began here.
St Paul preached against the multi-breasted goddess Artemis with mixed results and wrote his Letter to the Ephesians, which, by all accounts remains one of his finest works. St. John likely wrote his Gospel here and part of the Book of Revelations may have been started in Ephesus before he was exiled to Patmos.

Ephesus requires walking long distances over extremely uneven terrain. The ships tours specify that it is not a suitable tour for walkers and is not wheelchair accessible and advises people who need assistance to take a different tour or bring someone to assist them. That said we board our bus and watch while several quite elderly people have a very difficult task of getting down the gangway of the ship and even more difficulty getting on the bus. This will designate the tone of the tour that follows.
Our guide is a very informative man named Hasim. He is very personable and explains that Kusadasi itself has a varied history with a few buildings of note. Castillo de Santa Catalina, a Genoese castle dating from the 13^th century, was later used as a base by the pirate Barbarossa and his brothers.
There is also a large Caravansary built in 1613 by the Turkish governor Mehmet Pasha. Originally designed as a haven for passing merchants and their camels, it has now been renovated as a luxury hotel.

The local bazaar has grown to be rivaled in Turkey only by the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. The entire town is a center for tourists and makes its living from this.
Three important cities lie in this area. Smyrna, Sardis, and Pergamum. Smyrna my be the birthplace of the poet Homer. Since Homer’s Iliad is about the siege of Troy, it is significant that Smyrna is little more than 200 miles from ancient Troy. He was certainly familiar with the local tales and legends of the epic siege, on which he based his work.
East of Smyrna was Sardis, Capital of the kingdom of Lydia. The first metal coins were probably minted here. Lydia conquered Ephesus ands established itself as a regional power.
Pergamum was once known for a huge altar honoring Zeus. The altar was discovered by German archaeologists a century ago and is displayed in a Berlin museum today. Pergamum also had one of the greatest libraries of antiquity, with more than 200,000 volumes. The only greater library was at
Alexandria in Egypt.
One of the ancient world’s medical centers was the Asclepeium there, known for healthy spring water, massage, mud baths, and herbal cures. The great 2^nd-century physician Galen was a native of Pergamum.
A visit to Ephesus will put you in touch with some stunning ruins. There is an Odeon, or small theater, with a capacity of 1,400. It was also used for public meetings. The impressive Library of Celsus stands at the foot of the main street. The interior was were designed to display 12,000 scrolls in niches, which protected them from humidity. Across the street is the local bordello with underground access from the library for those needing to be discreet. The Temples of Domitian and Hadrian are impressive, and the Great Theater (which is still in use) seats 25,000.
Harbor Street, also known as the Arcadian Way, connected the port with the center of town. Beautiful colonnades on both sides and marble pavement probably made a dazzling impression on visiting dignitaries. It was one of
the rare ancient streets to be lit by lamps at night.
A distance away, you can see the ruins of the massive Temple of Artemis,
which was several times larger than the Parthenon. There were temples here as early as the 7^th century B.C. This one was completed about 430.
Ephesus, even in ruins is awe-inspiring. The Ionians lived well and wisely. Even by today’s standards of luxury we must tip our hats to these imaginative people.