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Kusadasi is a port city. It also lies near a major and relatively recent archeological find — the ancient city of Ephesus. In its day, 3000 B.C., Ephesus was a major port. Now because of the distance to the sea, it is hard to imagine that it was a port. Ephesus, once a Roman provincial capital, is home to several of Christianity’s holiest sites. Saint Paul preached at the Great Theater (photographs below) and the ruins of Ephesus’ Basilica cover the resting place of Saint John the Apostle.
Whitewashed houses cover the hillsides rising up from the city. It was early morning and the city was just beginning to awake.
Off the ship, we boarded our bus for our trip that would last most of the remainder of the day.
The first photo below is of an area just outside of the “House of the Virgin Mary” which is the Vatican recognizes as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. There is located here a small shrine erected when the ruins were first discovered. Unfortunately, it was so shaded that no other photographs were worth viewing. From there, we continued through the hillside to Ephesus.
The highlight of this day was to be walking the ruins of the city of Ephesus. The Romans had constructed a complex but very workable water distribution system. Carefully examining the ground as we walked, the piping for this system could be seen. The entire city had a functioning water system with fountains and water borne sewage. I have placed names of most of what the photos are that will appear if the mouse is held over the thumbnail.
Ephesus now behind us. It was a long walk on worn smooth marble paved roads but very interesting as we had a very good guide who had a second degree in archeology. Next stop is the Basilica of St. John.
Once back in the town of Kusadasi, we visited a Turkish rug place. They had some beautiful rugs of all sizes. We bought a small one for our front door foyer. Had some Turkish coffee — pretty strong stuff. We were then assisted in finding our way back to the ship which was not too far of a walk. Soon we were underway, right on schedule.
