Tag Ephesus

Olympos – Olympos is a relatively concealed and close-knit community of hostels and beach-style tree-house cabanas. Very few tourists visit the location, which is filled with backpackers, hippies and Europeans trying to get in touch with their inner child. The town is located 200m from the beach and surrounded on all sides by ancient ruins dating back to the Hellenistic period, and spruced up by the Greeks and Romans in later years. Ruins sit in the jungle along the coast waiting to be discovered, and the rocky beach offers cliff-jumping opportunities along with crystal blue swimming waters.

Fethiye – This small, Mediterranean coastal city is exactly what the doctor ordered for yachters and wealthier travelers. With a charming cove harbor where you can dock your boat directly in front of sea-side restaurants and cafes, what isn’t to like? A castle overlooks the entire scene from atop a hill, and ancient Greek and Roman crypts draw history buffs from around the globe, who can climb atop and even inside the crypts to wonder at ancient methods of entombing the dead. Old town is particularly nice, and offers exotic shopping, eating and drinking opportunities.

Ephesus – While classified more as the Aegean than the Mediterranean, Ephesus hits the top five list because of its amazing history and coastal location, and because early trade routes indicate that Ephesus was in touch with more to the east and west by sea than previously assumed. We enjoyed the ruins of Ephesus, and the nearby ancient cities and religious sites. It would be easy to spend weeks here.

Malaga – Located in southern Spain, Malaga is known for its wine, its castle and its impeccable sense of style. While expensive, this city makes the list because its wide, clean boulevards were filled with live entertainment and bohemian human art. The castle, while groomed and recently rebuilt, still offers great views of the Mediterranean, the harbor and the city itself, making it a fine place to spend a few days if you can afford the luxury digs.

Tunis – The capital of Tunisia sits directly in the Gulf of Tunis, which protects the city from wind and water without hampering the amazing Mediterranean views. The water is warm and teeming with fish, which gives the residents of Tunis opportunity to board themselves in tiny boats and run pattered grids across the harbor at all hours of day. Tunis is close to Carthage, or Roman legend, and offers shopping, spices and a real Middle Eastern atmosphere of entrepreneurship.

Us infront of the Library in Ephesus

After posing ridiculously on all of the old ruins and monuments we could find in the three ancient cities and camping for the night, we woke up to the sound of an alarm at 6:00 AM so we could get the rental car back in time.  I had lost miserably at every game of cribbage the night before, so Lauren and Matt were in extraordinarily high spirits the next morning.  We quickly broke down the tent, lit an Esbit, and heated some water for an awesome breakfast of instant oatmeal (thanks Matt + Mom) – which really hit the spot.  It was fairly easy navigating our way out of the city and back toward Ephesus.

On the way we stopped at the alleged home of the Virgin Mary, which was on a hilltop just outside Ephesus.  After driving up the passage, we discovered a very steep entry fee and couldn’t really justify paying the Turkish government that much to see what has only been verified by the Vatican and a German lady’s dream.  A little bummed, we descended and drove back towards town and dropped the car off.  We bought our bus tickets for Cannakale, stored our backpacks at the bus station, and walked 3 km down the road towards ancient Ephesus.  Our only slight disappointment about the Virgin Mary’s house quickly diminished as we entered Ephesus.  Unlike all the other ruins we saw, Ephesus was packed with tourists.  It was amazing as we walked down the magnificent marble streets, weathered by time and tread, to see it bustling with people.

We found that Ephesus was not in ruin at all!  Millions of people come here every year from all over the world.  Most impressive was the Great Library of Ephesus, which the Germans kindly rebuilt the front to its former glory.  The amphitheater was also a big hit, seating over 20,000 people.  We saw road markers, with the text marked in red, commissioned by Caesar Augustus. Ephesus is a must see, but the other less toured ruins should not be missed.  It was nice to have this dichotomy of empty and packed ruins as it helps connect past and present together.  After several hours in Ephesus and witnessing a gladiator reenactment, we got on our bus to Cannakale.  Ephesus was a great experience for us as well as for all the other people there, many of them senior citizens.  I heard on old lady say with a tear in her eye, “I have wanted to come here my entire life, and now I can’t believe my eyes.”

Ancient Pillars

Priene, Miletus and Didyma are three rather impressive ruins along the Aegean Coast that are smaller than Ephesus, but were important pilgrimage or economic sites in their day. We decided to rent a car from Selcuk and drive to all three of the ancient cities for a tour of the ancient world. Since neither Mike or I had driven in quite some time (and the rental car was a manual) Matt took the helm and Mike acted as navigator as I schemed on how best to see all the sites in one day.

Our first stop was Didyma, which was an hour and a half drive from Selcuk, counting the ridiculous detour through Soke (the town we were stuck in on our night-bus nightmare earlier that week). Didyma is the site of the Ancient Temple of Apollo, which missed out on being one of the seven wonders of the ancient world to the Temple of Artemis by a mere seven columns. We found this site much more impressive than the other because of what remains intact.

Our second stop was Militus, which was an ancient ruin of a theatre. It was a full three stories with a later era citadel atop the theatre. Caves wove in and out of the stadium carrying people to various levels. Like modern arenas, they had letters and numbers carved into the seats for their tickets. The ruin was impressive enough, but behind it was a hammam built by Marcus Aurillius’ wife, which was largely intact and impeccably built.

Our third stop was Priene, a hill-top city visited by Alexander the Great. The large Temple to Athena on the top was still standing in places, and the view of the valley (which used to be under water) was astonishing. We jumped from rock to pillar and played in the ancient arena before descending and driving to our camping spot for the night in a town near Selcuk, where we planned on returning the car by 10:00am the following morning. We had pizza and walked along the coast chatting about the ruins we had seen, and how amazingly lucky we were to have seen them. In twenty more years all of these sites might be under glass, or roped off with chains. This was easily one of the best days of the trip, and we were in high spirits as we played cribbage in the tent that evening . We all fell asleep wondering what Ephesus would possibly be like, since we would be seeing it in the morning.