The next stop was Izmir, Turkey. The destination here was the House of Mary and the ancient city of Ephesus. We took a tour that ended up being just the 4 of us which was amazing.
We drove up to the tops of the mountains to the House of the Virgin Mary. It's thought this was where Mary lived for a good part of her life, as she didn't live in Ephesus itself. It's in a beautiful mountain area, and very peaceful.
Pics aren't allowed inside, so you'll have to go there to see for yourself
We then drove about 15 minutes to the ancient city of Ephesus. Ephesus is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains Hellenistic and Roman settlements. Back in the day, Ephesus used to be a port city, but now lies several miles from the ocean. Ephesus was built in the 10th century BC. The most visited area of the city was the Temple of Artemis (completed in 550 BC) and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Ephesus has many monumental buildings as well as a stadium that held 24,000 spectators. The population of Ephesus was around 250,000.
Over many years, the harbor area became silted up, and Ephesus was no longer a port city and lost many of the natural resources and ability to trade, no longer being near the water. Eventually, the inhabitants left and abandoned the city.
The Apostle Paul spent just over 2 years preaching in Ephesus, which eventually resulted in him being judged in front of everyone at the stadium, and he was found guilty of not respecting the goddess Artemis, since he was preaching of another God. He was outcast and sent to a prison on a hill overlooking Ephesus. The Gospel of John is also believed to have been written in Ephesus.
Recently, the "Terrace Houses" were found and excavated. These were huge luxury Roman villas for the rich on a slope facing one of the Temples in Ephesus. Almost every room has a theme of tiled mosaics and frescos and is extremely preserved and visible today. There are currently 6 residences visible today with the oldest dating back to 1 BC and visitors can go in two of them.
These houses were two stories, with huge center courtyards, dining rooms, many bedrooms, living rooms and guest rooms. They had hot and cold air, and hot and cold water, clay baths and bathrooms.
Original pipes found on buildings and under the streets during excavation
The tile mosaics are seen best when wet
Public restrooms - everything drained out, they had ways to "clean" themselves, control the smell and even the noise. The restrooms were used by men and were used for social time
Entering the Terrace Houses. They are covered now to protect against the elements
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If you go to Ephesus, do not miss the Terrace Houses! They were amazing!
This stadium was huge!!
At the top of the hill in the background is where Paul was imprisoned
We then were taken to a local restaurant with outside tables for a traditional Turkish lunch and it was amazing!! So good!
Most of the "tours" in the area stop at a carpet place to try and sell you handmade Turkish carpets. At first, we didn't feel like we needed to go to the sales pitch and told our guide Na....no need. But, he convinced us to let him take us to one that isn't a tourist trap, and an honest handmade place. We agreed. It was one of the highlights of our trip! It was fascinating to see how they make these carpets. Some of them take 9-12 months to complete
Gathering silk from the silk worm cocoons
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We were then invited to the "show room" where they gave us traditional Turkish Tea (which was apple juice) and then brought out samples and samples and samples....they had us walk on them barefoot to compare the wool vs handmade silk....they were amazing pieces of art!
On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a local candy store for some "Turkish Delight" - pretty much a gel candy with all kinds of flavors. They gave us so many samples we were full after
Of course game ensued after dinner
Now that we are back from the trip, we all agree Ephesus was our favorite stop. The ruins were the most impressive and complete, the carpet demo was very interesting and the lunch was so good!
