Turkey Day 3 @ Ephesus

In this post, I am going to write about one of my favourite place that I visited in Turkey.
This is a long post so I hope that you can sit back and relax while reading and enjoy the photos that I have taken.

#1

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometers southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In 268 AD, the Temple was destroyed or damaged in a raid by the Goths. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. 

Wikipedia

We began our journey quite early that day after spending a night at Avyvalik.
Ephesus is around 6 hours from Troy although it looks pretty near in the map.

#2

I was grumpy about having to wake up early that day however my effort(to wake up) did pay off when I saw this magical view just outside the hotel. Photo doesn't do any justice at all. In real-life, it looks far more dreamy than this.  

#3

#4

Everything seems so calm and serene and I think I can get used to waking up and staring at this everyday. 

And so our journey began and these are some of the sceneries I saw along the way. 

#5

90% of the vehicles I saw in Turkey are covered in dirt. Like this.

#6

Turkey has wide fields with crops

#7

and a lot of wind turbines too

We reached our destination after 4 hours of bus ride. Ephesus is another ruin city like Troy (mentioned in my previous post) but in my opinion, this ruin city is far more beautiful and well preserved than Troy.

Ephesus is connected to Greek mythology like Troy as well where names like Hercules, Hermes, Nike and Medusa appeared on the monuments.

#8

Map of Ephesus

We went in from the East entrance and went along the path until the "car park" area seen above. Now I am starting to wonder, have I missed out the Temple of Artemis?! I think I really did missed out the Temple of Artemis.

#9

Upon entrance--The State Agora

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#11

Pieces of monument which have yet to be assemble

#12

Ancient underground pipes

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#14

Reassembled pillars

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The Odeon

#18

Flooring

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#20

Hermes, the messenger of Gods

#21

Caduceus, Hermes's herald staff

#22

Posing infront of Nike, the God of Victory

#23

Headless statue

#24

The ancient used alphabets too?

#25

Can you spot the heart?

#26

The fountain of Trajan

The center niche originally contained a colossal statue of the emperor Trajan.

#27

Artist rendition of the Fountain of Trajan

It is fantastic to know that the ancient Romans knew the true shape of the world even back in the 1st century AD. It can be understood from the round shape on which one foot of Emperor Trajan is resting, symbolised his rule of the world.

#28

#29

Scholastica Baths

#30

What's this?

In case you are smart enough, you would have guessed it correctly. 

The Scholastica Baths was located towards Celsus Library. Baths were part of the daily life in ancient time. As a tradition particularly in the Roman period, the noble and the rich would usually come to the baths in groups with their servants, be massaged and perfumed, afterwards rest for hours. 

Holes (#29), the public loo are stretch across long benches, where relatively clean water would be flowing lies near the feet (the shallow drain in dark grey). 

The waste channels are between 2 and 4 meters below the seats. It is said that if things were chilly, the wealthy Ephesians would send their slaves down to warm the seats for them in anticipation of their arrival. 

I do not know if the source is reliable but we heard that the waste was later collected to obtain Ammonia for the production of paper and books. Imagine flipping those pages....

#31

The Celsus Library

The library of Celsus is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Anatolia, now part of Selçuk, Turkey. It was built in honour of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, completed in 135 AD by Celsus' son, Gaius Julius Aquila.

Wikipedia

#32

#33

The facade of Celsus Library has 2 stories but the interior facade has 3 stories because of original architecture. I still remember standing at a spot, staring bewilderingly at this monument. The idea of how this place was built and the how the motives were carved just doesn't come to me. How many men were needed to move the concrete this high where there were still no machine or technology?

#34

The interior of the library

#35

Another headless statue

#36

Artist rendition of Celsus Library

#37

The mystery of the engraving

A heart, a cross, a woman's head, a foot and cash is carved into the marble sidewalk from the harbour to the town of Ephesus. It has been translated as 'turn left at the cross roads where you can buy a woman's love' and is claimed to be the worlds first advertisement, over 2000 years old. Interesting right?

#38

#39

Posing in the Grand Theatre

#40

Do you know that the Grand Theatre has seating capacity of 24000 and a high of 38meters? 

#41

#42

View from the Arcadian Way

#43

Ephesus is considered one of the great outdoor museums of Turkey and is the best preserved classical city of the Eastern Mediterranean which enable one to genuinely soak in the atmosphere of Roman times. Do you know that the Seven Churches of Revelation (mentioned in the Bible) was in Ephesus? (Revelation 2:1-7).  Even Virgin Mary lived her last years of her life here, in a small cottage near Ephesus.

#44

I think I have learn and see a lot of things in Ephesus. I always have a thing on history and I am so glad to be able to time travel, back to the venue where everything once happened. This is definitely one of my favourite attraction in Turkey. Do not miss out Ephesus if you are going to Turkey! And don't forget to purchase the audio guide!

I took almost 2 weeks to compose everything on this page.

Hope you enjoy the post! :)

x

Entrance Fee : 30 TL ($15 or €12)

Admission : 

April-October

Summer Opening/Closing Time | 08:30 - 19:00

November-March

Winter Opening/Closing Time | 08:00 - 17:00