We are all a bit sad to be leaving Izmir. It is truly a lovely city, and we would have loved to see more of it. But Ephesus beckons.
Our first stop is on the top of one of the mountains near the ancient city of Ephesus. The location is being guarded by armed Gendarmes. The house of the Virgin Mary. It is said that after the crucifixion, Mary and the disciple John left Jerusalem, and walked all the way to this area of Turkiye, settling on the top of this mountain near the major harbor city of Ephesus. The original house did not survive the test of time, but remains of it was discovered, and so the house was rebuilt in the exact same position. In places, the stones used to build the house, are darker than in other areas. These darker stones are claimed to be from the original house. On a wall near the house, thousands of pieces of white paper of cloth is tied to a wall. These contain wishes of hopeful visitors who visited this humble place. Our guide tells us that if your piece of paper or cloth gets blown away by the wind, your wish will come true, so best you don't tie the knot too tightly.
Next stop - Ephesus. The city was originally founded in 1000 BC when the Amazons lived here. So women might get a kick out of the fact that these were the times when women ruled things. So the ladies would be the hunters and fighters, and the men would stay home and take care of the housekeeping. The only problem that the ladies had, was the fact that the weapons of the times were bows and arrows, and to excel in the art of archery, the ladies had a bit of a disadvantage. But these Amazon ladies were so adamant about this Women's Lib thing, that they would sacrifice their one breast, to ensure it did not get in the way of their archery skills. I've never really been a huge Women's Lib fan…..
The surviving structures of Ephesus that can be seen today, however, dates back to the 4th century BC, when Alexander the Great founded the second version of the city. It quickly became a very important commercial port. The excavation of this site still continues, and slowly more and more pieces of the puzzle is providing better insight on how life may have been back then. Interesting that the brothel was situated in the center of the town. And when you look at the hierarchy of the classes, in descending order, the royalty was on top, followed by priests, then soldiers, then prostitutes, then the free people, and finally the slaves. How different life must have been in those days. It is also believed that the first advertisement probably appeared here. On a pavement, there are four symbols carved into the marble. A left foot, a lady, a purse or money bag, and a heart. This they claim to advertise to visiting sailors that, should you have money, then on the left up ahead, you can buy the love of some ladies. There was some added method in the brothel madness though. The sailors brought goods that the people of the city would buy from them. But then they lured the socially starved sailors to the brothel, to ensure they spent all that money again. Shrewd!
The most impressive restored building in Ephesus has to be the Library of Celsius. This was built around AD 100, and great attempts were made to make this the biggest library in the world. However, the Egyptians who were the record holders at the time, heard of these cunning plan, and immediately stopped exporting papyrus to these shrewd Ephesians. But being the bright lot that they were, they very quickly set about figuring out how they could replace papyrus. And so this is how Pergamum or Parchment paper came about.
Our guide claims that some tours visit the city of Ephesus for three days, and still feel they would have wanted to see more. I'm not entirely sure whether I would have lasted on such a tour, but after spending some time on Google, I can definitely see that the theories and legends are vast. And looking at the size of the excavated city we saw today, there must definitely be a great deal of archaeological fun to be had here still.
From Ephesus we drive to Pamukkale where we get to rest our weary heads for the night. The main attraction here would be the "Cotton Castles" (which is what Pamukkale means), but more about this tomorrow.
We made the famous vow. What happens in Pamukkale, stays in Pamukkale. Although really, it would be difficult not to rave about what bliss it is to be sitting in the natural thermal pools of our hotel in the cold moonlit evening.
Did you know: The roosters in the town of Denizli, near Pamukkale, are claimed to be in the Guiness Book of records for the longest crows. Apparently they can crow for 20 to 25 seconds.
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