We are on the west coast of Turkey in Kusadasi. Lovely panoramas over the Aegean. Unusual for us East Coast dwellers to see a sunset over the ocean; we are more used to ocean sunrises (well some are, not me, but I have one or two!). Lovely hotel, but signs over the bathroom washbasin remind one not to drink the water! The reality we face.
Mary's house near Ephesus
The day started with a visit to the Mary’s house – a bit suspect really. The only reasonable certainty was that Mary lived there for a period of time with John and probably died in the area. The ‘house’ with grand detail all explained is dubious. We celebrated Mass in a small chapel nearby and that was good.
We then moved to Ephesus itself via the current town of Selcuk, which our guide refers to as Ephesus 4, as in the fourth location of the township of Ephesus. There have been various reincarnations of the town over the years due to silting up of the bay (The shoreline is now 6 km from the ancient shoreline of John and Paul’s time). You will need to check out the details; I’m a little hazy about that.
The excavations at Ephesus started in 1890. It’s a good story about some Brit building a nearby railway and got intrigued by a few observations and some background knowledge, but you chase that one up also. I think the guide said the excavations are the most extensive archaeological dig in the world and the most extensive ruins. Whatever, it wins a few gold medals in many categories. It is huuuge!
The streets go for a considerable distance (see photo) in several directions. The library was imposing to say the least. In the best Roman tradition it had a spectacular façade and a fairly small interior, but in fairness it was still the third biggest library in the known world, with 100,000 scrolls, behind Alexandria, which burned down along with the 1 million scrolls it housed. The second biggest library was Pergammon which we see tomorrow.
The Library at Ephesus.
The theatre in Ephesus is breathtaking. It seated about 25,000 people (and as a guide the theatre was generally built to house 10% of the population so Ephesus must have been about 250,000 at the time)
Ephesus Theatre
It is the best restored ancient theatre in Europe and this includes the Coliseum in Rome. It was a special treat for us to have one of our pilgrims, Peter Murphy, sing a Negro spiritual song from the stage area. The acoustics meant the superb sound resonated right through the place and all other tour groups stopped in their tracks to listen. You could hear a pin drop while he sang and there was thunderous applause at the end. One of those spine-tingling moments we experience every now and then. Just hope the video I took captures some of this magic moment. Phew!
Of importance in this theatre is the story in ‘Acts’ about how the artisans who depended on production of Artemis talismans etc rallied against Paul for teaching about Jesus, rather than Artemis. They gathered in this theatre (the local officials advised Paul not to attend) for a little public humiliation and more. The text in ‘Acts’ explains how this did not work out and Paul continued in the region. I think Paul lived and worked in Ephesus for some time (2 years?) but I will need to check this. It was yet another magic moment to sit in the theatre while the Bishop read this passage from ‘Acts’ detailing these events.
Listening to Acts
It was fascinating to stand in front of the marble carving of Goddess Nike, and see where the Nike swoosh came from. It was inspired by this carving. Can you spot it in the photo?
Goddess Nike
The township ruins spread for hundreds of metres and a few words here do not do it justice. The complex plumbing, the bathhouses, the meeting places, the mosaics, the layout and the list goes on. Sorry folks, I think this is one place which has to be experienced to appreciate, so these few words are hopelessly inadequate.
Some of the elaborate plumbing in Ephesus.
So moving right along, we went to the ‘double church’ as it is called, which is the site of the Council of Ephesus of 431 AD - to be parallelled to, but not confused with the Vatican Council of 1964-65. We spent some time there, which was special to sit in that spot.
Further up the hill was the Monastery of St John, built to commemorate the time John spent at Ephesus, but it is not so certain that the Tomb of St John is the real deal. Anyway, the general notion is important and we paused in that space to pray and listen to some of John’s Gospel.
Tomb of St John
Prayers at St John's tomb
As we drove away, a quick look at what remains of Artemis’ Temple was essential, given it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Not much now, only a lone column, a few rocks, a sign and several hawkers trying to sell souvenirs, so that one goes straight to the research room, thank you Darrel!
Artemis' Temple
Could not resist a photo of this sign.
Yes, I know it is probably the most photographed sign in the Ephesus area, but what the heck! It poses the question of what is a fake fake watch?
A visit to the Archaeological Museum showed some of the salvaged pieces from Ephesus, but these are a mere fraction of those pillaged (Yes, pillaged) in the last century by British archaeologists for exhibition at the British Museum.
A huge day and, to repeat, this blog is inadequate in portraying the extent and depth of these ruins. Only a fraction has been uncovered. Put this spot on your ‘must-see’ list.
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