Ephesus - gateway to the past

The taxi driver who drove us around Bergama to see the ruins of Pergamum offered to pick us up at our hotel the next day and drive us to Ephesus, St John's Basilica and the Virgin Mary's house, and then drive further on to Kusedasi and drop us off at our hotel. This was a trip of over 220 Kilometres. The price - 75 Euro or $95 AUD (because it is the off season). Needless to say we jumped at the chance and had a great day of it and it was the easiest move from one place to another that we so far have had.

St John's basilica was very interesting as it showed how strongly Christianity grew in these early centuries AD. There are enough surviving ruins to see that the Basilica was very large indeed, and it contains the purported grave of St John.

The Virgin Mary's house, on the other hand, is another case again. There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that Mary spent the remaining years of her life in this part of the world. However, the "evidence" for the siting of this particular house as Mary's derives from a vision that a 19th century German nun had. An expedition was sent out from Germany and the ruins that this site are built on we're claimed to have exactly matched the nun's vision... I think I will leave that one there.

The ruins at Ephesus are indeed impressive in their scale and the extent of what has survived. As they say, one is able to get quite a strong feel for how the ancient Greeks and Romans lived and of the sophistication of their civilization. The amphitheatre could hold 25,000 people and scholars of ancient civilizations, using this as a base figure, extrapolate the population as being approximately 250,000 at its height.

Judith was particularly taken by the public latrine - she can spot a toilet in a foreign land from at least a kilometre away and hence the photo. This one (for men) showed that everyone had to sit quite closely to use it, but apparently that was not a big problem as it was an important social meeting place. According to the Lonely Planet, even if you had your own bathroom you would often come here to "shoot the shit with your friends".











As I said in an earlier post, the ruins at Pergamum are regarded by many people as very much second-tier to those at Ephesus, and in a sense that's true. However, if you are in this part of the world and you miss a visit to Pergamum, you are missing a real treat. It is not as big as Ephesus but it has it's own unique features, like the amphitheatre carved into the side of the mountain with a view over the valley, the spectacular views of the countryside far below, and the Esklepion (Medical centre).

Outside the entrance to Ephesus is the usual alleyway of stalls selling all sorts of necessary and useful souvenirs (!?) This is all standard and nothing of note. However, we were taken by the signs on one or two of the stalls advertising "genuine fake watches". WTF?!!