Turkey - Ephesus

Greek colonists established Ephesus three-thousand years ago, and until the third century AD, it was an important cultural and commercial city situated between Europe and Asia. The Apostle Paul spent a lot of time in the city and wrote one of his letters to the church there.  The Apostle John may have written his Gospel there, and tradition says Jesus' mother, Mary, lived there with John until her death.  Today the ruins of the ancient city are about three kilometers outside the town of Selcuk, which is eighty kilometers south of Izmir, our temporary home.  Most people visit Ephesus as part of a Mediterranean cruise or a long day trip from Istanbul. A short trip was our original intent before the troubles began in Turkey, and we had no choice but to change our plans.  When Deena and I were planning the trip, Ephesus was one of our major destination goals, and we knew it would be challenging and possibly expensive to reach, but we were determined to stroll down its marble streets with our children.  Once we were situated in Izmir, Deena researched local tours, but discovered even the least expensive service would cost over five hundred dollars, and as is the case with all these tours, we would have to sit through a sales presentation at a Persian rug enterprise at the conclusion of the trip.  Motivated by those vexing factors, we put together a simple itinerary and set out to visit Ephesus on our own terms.

We rose early on Thanksgiving day, which is like any other day as far as the Turkish are concerned, dressed quickly, and had a simple breakfast before heading out to find a taxi at 8:00.  Deena found out that one of the commuter trains runs from Izmir to Selcuk several times a day, and we wanted to catch the one leaving at 9:00.  We found a taxi right away, and after navigating nightmarish traffic, we arrived at the Basmane train station by 8:30, bought tickets, and spent the next fifteen minutes seeking assurance that we were standing on the correct platform.  Other than a mostly Latin alphabet, the Turkish language is another form of communication that bears absolutely no resemblance to English, and we’ve had to resort to furtive pointing and gesturing on numerous occasions here.  The uncrowded train departed the station on time, and we settled in for the ninety-minute ride to Selcuk.

The city of Izmir is built on a large, circling bay on the Aegean sea at the end of a deep indentation of land on the Turkish coast.  Green hills sweep up from the perimeter of the bay, and housing blocks cover the entire expanse with the minarets of mosques punctuating the skyline.  The distance across the bay is not far, but viewing landmarks on opposite sides is difficult due to the perpetual haze of pollution which prevents complete visibility through the smog.  As the train rumbled toward the outskirts of the city, I saw mostly crumbling buildings, their balconies strung with clothelines already drooping with the day’s washing even at that early hour.  There were small restaurants at every corner with patrons sitting outside drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes while cars jammed the streets all around.  Trash was everywhere and pedestrians strolled slowly chattering into their smartphones while stray cats and dog roamed through their midst.  Izmir is home to over four million people, and I’m guessing that life is challenging for a great number of them.  

As we reached the city limits, the look became more industrial with large warehouses and trash dumps dominating the scenery, and the train eventually crossed into the countryside where the landscape turned almost lunar in appearance.  While there were large cotton fields, tangerine groves, and rows of hazelnut trees, most of the terrain was flat and dusty with sparse, dried-out vegetation lining the train tracks.  Every twenty minutes or so, the train stopped at stations in small villages, and by the time we reached the station in Selcuk, it was mostly empty.  Selcuk is a large town with around thirty-thousand residents, but they were nowhere in sight as we stood on the platform in front of a blue domed mosque with the spire of its minaret peeking out above the treeline.  The station was under construction, and a worker kindly helped us get across the tracks to the main platform where the train dispatcher called a taxi for us.  We had anticipated a row of taxis along the border of the station, but it turns out that during the offseason, they don’t show up unless they’re summoned by phone.

Our driver took us to the upper gate of Ephesus and deposited us right in the middle of a pack of merchants desperate for tourists, and they fervently offered us maps of Ephesus, bottles of water, and sunscreen and assured us we would surely die within the confines of the ruins without their products.  We escaped those fellows and made it to the ticket booth where men were offering their services as guides for rates they claimed were less than the cost of the audioguide machines.  Again, the lack of tourists contributed to desperate sales pitches, but we managed to slip away with tickets in hand and audio guides around our necks, and as morning fog on the hills burned off into blue sky, we finally crossed over into the ancient wonder of Ephesus.

We’ve seen some impressive ruins so far on this trip, and they all testified to the achievements of days gone by, but Ephesus is spectacular, and we quickly understood why the ancient grounds are considered an archaeological marvel.  Standing open mouthed in the middle of the causeway looking at the remains of a once great city, I wondered what a traveler must have thought two thousand years ago walking through the main gate for the first time and beholding Ephesus in its gleaming white marble glory.  Our audio guides offered just the right amount of information as we spent several hours walking the streets, stopping often to learn the history of the Odeon, Hadrian’s temple, Domitian’s Temple, Fountain of Pollio, and the Hercules gate.  In ancient times, the main street was lined with city benefactors’ statues standing on pediments inscribed with their attributes, and while almost all of the statues are gone, the pediments still proclaim the worthiness of the city fathers.

We paid an extra admission fee to tour the fantastic terrace houses which were built into a the hillside above the main street and provided residence for several extremely wealthy families.  We climbed steel staircases under the canvas-roofed complex and saw walls still covered with colorful frescos and floors with long expanses of intricately detailed mosaics depicting Poseidon, Hercules, and many other mythological personages.  It was obvious even in antiquity that life for wealthy Romans was pretty good.  Leaving the terrace houses, we came to the end of the main road before it turned sharply to the right and stood in wonder before the Library of Celsus, which is the world famous symbol of ancient Ephesus.  We stayed there for a long time sitting on the steps of the library taking pictures and listening to the narrative on the audioguide.  By this time of day, the sun was at its highest point, and we had clear views all around.  The Agora was located beside the library, and we sat for a while there as well before walking a short distance to the well preserved theater which seated twenty-five thousand Ephesians back in the day.

It was in this theater that a heated demonstration was held against the Apostle Paul, which was started by a silversmith and other tradesmen in town.  They were angered that Paul’s preaching about Christ was harming their idol making business, and the crowd was worked into a frenzy shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  Paul wanted to go into the theater and address the crowd, but his friends wouldn’t allow it, and we wondered if we were standing on the very spot Paul stood as heard the roar of the crowd.  We reviewed these events in the 19th chapter of the Book of Acts the night before, and it was thrilling to be in the actual place where everything happened.  Historical events make so much more sense when studied in the places where they unfolded, and we never get tired of learning in this manner, especially in areas so well preserved like Ephesus.

We walked the last of the marble pavers of the city toward the exit and brought our three-and-a-half hour tour of ancient Ephesus to a close.  After returning our faithful audio guides, we boarded another taxi back to Selcuk and began a search of the town square for a place to eat a late lunch.  We chose a small diner and were greeted by the proprietor's young daughter who promptly took our sandwich orders and fired up the grill.  Her father, a nice fellow with decent English skills, returned shortly, and we enjoyed talking with him while we munched our delicious grilled sandwiches.  “Is November” he said while sweeping his hand out toward the village.   “Nobody here, why tourist now?”  We told him about our trip, and he seemed very pleased that we had chosen his place to have our luncheon.  We paid our paltry bill, and spent the last hour in town sitting in the town square under the old Roman aqueduct, while a large group of elderly men dressed in dark clothing and caps sat nearby drinking tea and smoking.  We enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine and talked about our experiences in Ephesus while we sipped freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice and munched roasted peanuts purchased from a street vendor who kept calling me "Monsieur." 

Aqueduct with eagles nest on top

We boarded the 4:00 pm train back to Izmir, and unlike the sparsely populated morning ride, the cars were packed, and we had to stand for the majority of the trip, but eventually we sat on floor space that opened up near some large sacks of potatoes stacked by the doors.  The taxi ride back to our district was a little smoother and shorter than the morning ride, and we were soon walking the familiar streets of our neighborhood and stopped at a kebab shop for supper.  The owner waited on us like we were royalty, and we had some excellent roasted lamb with yogurt, fresh tomatoes, and crunchy shredded lettuce.  We finished our meal with hot Turkish tea, and the owner bid us a hearty “alvederzane” as we left.  After spending a full Thanksgiving day in an amazing place, we stretched out in the apartment and tallied up our expenses.  Including transportation, admission fees, and audio guides, we spent $130 for our visit to the magnificent ruins of ancient Ephesus, and Deena and I looked at each other and smiled.