Turkey has a unique Roman city that dates back to the 6th century BC, Ephesus. After arriving in Kusadasi, one of Turkey’s main holiday resorts, our cruise ship the Oosterdam offered a shore excursion. It took us to the site in the early hours of the morning, because the sun blindingly reflects off the centuries-old stones and makes it difficult to enjoy later in the day.
As we walked down the path of “the ancients,” I was amazed at how well preserved many of the buildings are, particularly the Great Theatre. It was the site of theatrical and musical performances and although the marble seating is gone, the stones survive. It required 60 years of digging to clear out the land to create the theatre that accommodated 25,000 people.
Although begun in Hellenic times, its great claim to fame is that St. Paul delivered his sermon condemning pagan worship from the proscenium. I didn’t climb up the many rows of the theatre, but I felt the history all around me. Nearby the theatre, archeologists recently opened to the public the restored Library of Celsus, built in the 2nd century AD. I tried closing my eyes to picture the people who studied here and read from the scrolls stored inside its walls.
I am forever impressed with the genius that helped build these monumental sites. From the two-story Trajan’s Fountain we walked over to what is considered the second most sacred building. It is dedicated to Hadrian, the ruling emperor, and is named the Temple of Hadrian.
The Corinthian temple has a main chamber with an enormous inscribed porch telling us that the temple was dedicated to him. From our eye-opening walk through history, we re-boarded the bus and traveled a few miles to see the well-restored and preserved House of the Virgin Mary. According to local legend, villagers believed that the Virgin Mary finished her days in the simple brick house high above the city in an isolated area.
Interestingly, the house was discovered in the 19th century when a reclusive nun who never left her home had a dream about the site. It was actually found just as she described it and has been visited by both Pope Paul VI and John Paul II, both of whom verified the authenticity of the site as the last home of the Virgin Mary.
The area has become part of a national park. Mass is celebrated every day and it is believed there are springs there that have healing powers. I bought bottles of water for my Catholic friends and lit candles wishing them good health. It was a stirring visit for people of all religions. There is a wall just like that in the old city of Jerusalem where you can put a message into the Wailing Wall.
Kusadasi is situated on the west coast off Turkey, 56 miles south of Izmir, and is considered one of the most attractive cities of the Aegean. We were there in 80 degree weather, and the records show the city has 300 sun-filled days every year. It is what makes it a perfect tourist spot. We didn’t get to the beach, but there are many to choose from. Many wonderful waterfront restaurants offer multiple choices of fish that were just caught.
We chose a cafe that offered us a ringside seat at the harbor overlooking the fishing boats. We had a crispy plentiful Greek salad with blood red tomatoes and fish that Stu chose from the ice table holding a dozen different choices. It was grilled to a perfect moist texture. After lunch we continued our waterfront walk and found many shops.
Ironically, all sell similar leather jackets, pocketbooks and jewelry. I think there’s one supplier and many merchants in every category selling the same goods! The merchants were willing to bargain and I had fun negotiating for a purple suede jacket and a suede blazer for Stu.
That evening our cruise ship offered Merengue lessons, dancing, movies, a Latin night and even the game “Name that Tune,” but we were so exhausted from our intense day we simply had dinner on our terrace overlooking the Aegean Sea as we sailed on our way to our next stop, the island of Santorini in Greece. Read about it next week.
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