Ephesus

Prayer wall at house of Virgin Mary

Prayer wall at house of Virgin Mary

We docked at 1pm at Kusadasi. A great port as the dock is adjacent to the downtown area.
We had booked a small group tour to Ephesus.  Once again no adjectives describe adequately this place.
Our tour started with a visit to a reconstructed house proported to be that of the Virgin Mary. There is circumstantial evidence that it could be true. Certainly many believe as can be seen by the wall of prayers which was interesting to see.

Our next stop was the ancient town of Ephesus.  John the Apostle lived and wrote here.  Only 10% of this town has been excavated to date and the ruins I think are more impressive then Pompeii.
I could have spent hours wandering here. The weather was threatening and loud thunder along with massive lightening bolts added to the atmosphere. You could feel the history hovering around you.

In particular the excavation of a series of terraced houses was most interesting.  These houses has internal plumbing, sewerage and underfloor and in wall central heating.  By piping hot water through terracotta pipes the houses could be heated.
Frescoes adorned the walls and mosaics the floors.  excavation is still ongoing funded by an Austrian corporation. Turkey welcomes archaeologists from all over the world to assist with restoring abs excavation of their history.

Probably the most impressive structure is the facade of the Library of Celcus.  This was the third largest library in the ancient world holding 120000 papyrus scrolls.
The site also contained a large auditorium.

After a stop at the ruins of the temple of Artemis, and a carpet weaving demonstration we had time for a few minutes of fun shopping in Kusadasi..  This place definitely warrants another visit.