Kusadasi And Ephesus

      Our day in Kusadasi and Ephesus was all and more than we expected it to be.  That is because it was always a place we wanted to go back to and having done that, we were not disappointed.   The other good thing is that unlike the last time we were here, we did not hit the dock and have to stay for an extra day!   They have built another dock and a big new termoinal building.

Mary's House

       We had 3 things to do today.  The first was a stop at the House of the Virgin Mary. The Vatican has recognized this small (now rebuilt) house as the finall resting place of the Virgin Mary.  A small shrine was found when the ruins were first discovered about 150 years ago.   It is known historically that John took Mary with him to Ephesus when they left Israel.   Ephesus was the 4th largest city in the Roman Empire and was known for religious tollerance.  In any case, it was a good visit.  We did not go to the ruins of St. John's Church as we have done that the last time we were here.
     The real highlight was the full tour of Ephesus.  We were last there in 2003 and they have

done a lot of reconstruction in the past few years.We entered from the top of the city (the Magnesia Gate) throught the government district then down to the socal district.   The city probably had 300,000 people at the height of its population all based on a good harbour which brought trade from all over the Roman Empire.  The Library was there the last time we visited but this time you could get into the reconstructed structure.  We did not visit the terrace houses  (some houses had 4000 sq feet).  This was a choice of tours that we had made.  However our table mates did get there and were suitably impressed.   The Ampitheatre was there the last time but they have added to the

Ampitheatre

structure.  It is where St Paul preached before he was driven out of the city as he was disrupting the sellers of the Roman gods trinkets.   The via down to the now silt filled port with shops and columns has also been filled out considerably.  The water is now 5 miles away and because of the silting, the city's source of trade was cut off and the city died.  However the running water systems, red light houses, roman baths, temples, etc made for a good day!
      We skipped the carpet demo and walked the bazaar but the merchants did not seem to be as agressive as the last time .  Perhaps with the number of ships that do arrive here on a constant basis (2 others this day) means that they don't have to hassle as much!  Next Stop Athens.