1 May 2025 Overland to Kusadasi and Ephesus

 

Yesterday (30 April) was a rainy day so we stayed on the boat. A few brave explorers to a hike up the mountain, but Bill and I declined that adventure.

 This morning we said goodbye to our fabulous crew on the gullet and headed north to Kusadasi and Ephesus to explore one of the largest and best-preserved ancient sites – the Greco-Roman ancient port city of Ephesus, once the most important Greek city and an important trading center in the Ionian Asia Minor.  It was also important in the early years of Christian evangelism.  While we had previously visited Ephesus, it was many years ago.  So in a way, this was almost like visiting it for the first time. 

 Not much about Ephesus’ early history is known.  But in the 7^th century BCE, the city came under the control of the Lydian Kings and became a thriving city.  Sometime between 560 BCE and 547 BCE, the Lydian King Croesus, rebuilt the Temple of Artemis, dedicated to the goddess of the hunt, chastity, childbirth, wild animals, and the wilderness.  Originally built in 356 BCE, it was burned down by a crazed man.  When rebuilt it was four times larger than the Parthenon and became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  It was torn down by a Christian mob in 401 CE and never rebuilt.

 In 334 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the region and upon his death Ephesus came under the control of the Hellenistic Kingdom of Pergamon.  Then in the end century BCE, Ephesus became part of the Roman Empire.  It was the ancient capital of the Roman province of Asia during the time of Augustus Caesar (from 27 BC to AD 14. )  In 17 AD, the city was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt during the reigns of Tiberius and Hadrian.  During this time Ephesus retained its political and trading supremacy, and also began to have religious significance during the Christian era, as it was said to have been the place of residence chosen by Mary, mother of Jesus, after his crucifixion.  John the Apostle is also believed to have settled in Ephesus where he may have written the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation.  However, the harbor began to silt up, and Ephesus gradually declined as a trading center.   By the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-564 AD), the harbor was completely blocked, the inhabitants deserted the city and moved to the nearby Ayasoluk Hill.  And in 1090, this area fell to the Turks.  . 

 It is amazing how well preserved the city is.  Its mile-long marble paved street, grooved by chariot wheels, is the same road that Mark Anthony and Cleopatra walked on their honeymoon when they brought books from the Alexandra Library.  This road leads past partially reconstructed buildings, such as the Great Theater,  the temples of Domitian and Hadrian, the Trajan Fountain, and the Roman baths.  Perhaps the most well known structure in Ephesus is the Celsus Library (one of the largest and most graceful surviving buildings of antiquity).  Built in 135 AD, it contained over 12,000 scrolls stored in cupboards in the niches on the double walls that were built to keep the manuscripts free from humidity.  On the façade of the entrance were four female statues that symbolized wisdom (Sophia), knowledge (Episteme), ad intelligence (Ennoia), and virtue and character (Arete).   Perhaps the most unique site was the latrine – 40 marble holes around a rectangular pool where residents socialized.  This apparently was the social highlight of the resident’s day.  While much of the main part of the town of Ephesus has been excavated, there is a lot of excavation ongoing in the hills surrounding the town.  The hills are believed to be the homes of the people who lived and worked in Ephesus.  

Below are some of the pictures of the ruins of Ephesus with a short description of them.

Roman Baths that could house 100 people

Bouleuterion - Meeting place of the Council as well 
a place to hold musical performances and concerts

Sacred Way made of marble that lead 
to the old Harbor of Ephesus

Temple of Domitian- first structure in
Ephesus known to be dedicated to
an emperor

The Relief of Nike once a decorative item
on the second level of Hercules Gate

Hercules Gate which separate what
was once uptown and downtown 
Ephesus

Trajan Fountain - one of the finest
 monuments in Ephesus built to honor
Emperor Trajan.  His statue once stood
in the center niche of the fountain.  

Terrace House -- one of six houses in this
area.  There is more excavations ongoing
of other houses built on the hillside

Mosaics from the Terrace House

Public Bathroom built over a channel with
an uninterrupted flow of water- a social gathering
place of the men in Ephesus

Celeus Library- considered the
most beautiful building in
Ephesus.  Beneath the first floor is
the grave of Galius Julius Aquila, the
governor of the province of  Asia.

Temple of Hadrian built to
honor the Emperor and one of 
the best preserved in Ephesus

Statue of Arete, (Goddess of  Virtue
and Character) at entrance to
the Celeus Library

Entrance to the Agora-built for commercial
purposes as it was close to the 
old Harbor

Agora or Market Square

Marble Harbor Road that led from
Agora to the Old Harbor

The Theater- located on the slope of Panayir Hill
opposite the Harbor Road - it has a capacity
of 25,000 seats

Cat sitting on open window
in ladies bathroom - I thought
it was going to fall on me
as I washed my hands

 

Map of Ephesus - pictures above follow our walk from our entrance  at #28
and and our exit at #3

 Our last stop of the day was to the Ephesus Archaeological Museum. It houses finds from the excavations of Ephesus.  Its best-know exhibit is the ancient statue of the Greek Goddess Artemis that was recovered from the Temple of Artemis, one of the original seven wonders of the ancient world. 

 After leaving the Ephesus Museum we traveled to our hotel in Kusadasi, a popular seaside resort along the Aegean Sea.

Stork's Nest on top of a
building in Kusadasi

Statue of Artemis from the
Temple of Artemis

Head and And of Domitian

Freize from the Temple of Domitian

 

This ended our tour of Turkey.  The next day there were no activities planned, so we just relaxed and packed our suitcases for our early morning flight on 3 May to Malta.  Turkey is a fascinating country to visit.  The locales we visited were all so different – Istanbul, a vibrant highly populated city with a lot of Arab and Byzantine influences; Cappadocia, a landscape that is out of this world and origins of the Whiling Dervish; Antalya, a beautiful coastline of both the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea; and lastly Ephesus, perhaps the best preserved of all the ancient Roman cities.  The people are welcoming and very helpful.  Their history is very complex, but as you visit from site to site, you see the remnants of all the cultures that help create the current country of Turkey.  This adventure was one we highly recommend – you will not be disappointed.

29 April 2025 Dalyan River Boat Ride • Cleopatra’s Bath

 

This morning, we had another van ride to the town of Kaunos where we boarded a boat to cruise up the

Fishing Wier

Dalyan River, named for the fishing wiers (dalyans) that have been used by locals for centuries to support their fishing industry.  Fishing wiers are obstructions that are placed in tidal waters, either wholly or partially across the river to direct the passage of or trap the fish. 

There is a legend about how the river got its name and it revolves around the incestuous love of Caunus and his twin sister Byblis.  They were both the children of the daughter of the Carian king Eurytus.  Byblis fell in love with her brother, but he rejected her and ran away to a distant land that he named Kaunos.  Desperate, Byblis went searching for him only to be rejected again.  It is said that her many tears of sadness became the Dalyan River.

 

Our first stop on the cruise was to see the Lycian-style ornate tombs cut into the cliffs.  These tombs, known as “tombs of kings,” were in the shape of Hellenistic temples.  The Lycians believed that the dead were carried to the afterlife by mythical winged creatures they called angels, so they placed the dead in geographically high places open to the sky so the afterlife angels could find them.  These tombs were generally one or two levels, holding more than one body (most likely family members).  The outside of the tomb was decorated with reliefs depicting the life of the deceased as well as the main events of the time.  And like the Egyptian pyramids and tombs, most of these tombs were also looted.

 

Lycian Tombs

Lycian Tombs

Lycian Tombs

Beautiful Lake on the Way to Kaunos

We then just enjoyed a leisurely cruise up and down the river for about an hour before returning to Kaunos, an ancient seaport city that dates back to the 9^th century BCE.    While in the town, several of the men,  including Bill, went to a Turkish barber for a haircut and a shave.  This was quite a procedure.  After completing the shave, the barber would dip a Q-tip in alcohol and then set it on fire.  He would then gently wave the Q-tip around the outside of the ear to burn off ear hair.  Bill said he could hardly feel the Q-tip – it did not burn the skin at all.  After the haircut, the men all received a shoulder and neck massage.  Bill’s barber was new, just out of a 4-year school that trained him to be a barber.  It was quite an experience.

Our Boat on the River

View of the River from the Boat

Translation - -How happy is the one who
says I am a Turk - the motto of the
Republic of Turkey

Bill Getting a Shave and Haircut

The Finished Product

Part of the Fishing Wier

Boat Turned Into a Sumer Garden

Turtle Statue in Center of Kaunos

 

Burning the Hair off the Ear

View of Our Cove

Returning to the ship, we had lunch and the captain sailed the ship to one of the sheltered bays in the area.  There about 6 or 7 of our group took a hike up the hill (or small mountain) and then back down again to where the sunken ruins of Cleopatra’s bath are found in the water close to shore. Legend says that Mark Anthony gave Cleopatra the entire Turquoise Coast as a wedding gift and had these thermal baths built for her as part of the gift.  However, archaeologists put the age of the ruins to 400 years after Cleopatra’s death.  You used to be able to swim in the ruins (there are a few thermal springs in the area), but that is not allowed today. 

 Two of our crewmen took myself and several others in our group who did not do the walk over in a dingy so we could see the ruins.  It was quite a busy day and the rain that had been threatening finally arrived.

Ruins of Cleopatra's Bath

Ruins of Cleopatra's Bath

Ruins of Cleopatra's Bath

Ruins of Cleopatra's Bath

The Beautiful Turquoise Blue Water of
the Turkish Coast

 

28 April 2025 Visit to Kayakoy

 

28 April 2025             Visit to Kayakoy

After breakfast we were transported to the shore by a dingy where a van awaited to take us to the ghost town of Kayakoy, once a thriving town inhabited by Anatolian Greeks.  Before the Turkish War of Independence in the early 20^th century, both the Turks and Greeks lived side by side in harmony.  However, in 1922 (after the Ottoman defeat in WWI), part of the Turkish War of Independence included the Greco-Turkish War where Greece tried to take back land in Western Anatolia that had been part of Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire before the Turks conquered them in 12^th–15^th  centuries.  After Greece was defeated, their government accepted Turkey’s demand to return to its pre-war borders.  Turkey then stated it was in favor of a compulsory exchange of populations between the Greeks in Turkey and the Muslims in Greece.  The Allies of WWI abandoned their first treaty attempt with Turkey and negotiated a new treaty which recognized Turkey’s independence and its sovereignty over the disputed land with Greece.  This new treaty, the Treaty of Lausanne (the last WWI treaty) also had the exchange of population provisions, so with its signing in 1924, the entire Christian Greek population in Turkey was forced to return to Greece, while the Muslims in Greece were returned to Turkey.  This town was abandoned and as the returning Turks did not want to live there, it became a ghost town.  Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you get an eerie feeling as you walk among the 600 abandoned homes and reflect on how politics can affect human lives.  If you have read “Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres, this was the town that inspired him to write about the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. While the diplomates of the many countries who signed the Lausanne Treaty thought that these people would be happy to return to their homeland, this was not the case.  Many, if not most, had lived all their lives in either Greece or Turkey, and did not know the language or customs of their new land.  And their neighbors and friends were not happy to see them deported.  It was a sad story, but unfortunately, it seems to be replaying in today’s world.

There is a very rocky trail that takes you up the hillside where the homes were built.  Most of our group walked up this trail, but Bill and I took another easier trail and still saw about 6-7 of these abandoned homes.  Today all that is left are the stone walls of the homes, and most of them including the insides of the homes have been overgrown with plants and trees. 

 

Ruins of Kayakoy on Hillside

Looking Down at Feithiye Harbor

Ruins of Kayakoy Church

Rocky Path up the Hillside

Ruins of Abandoned Homes

Abandoned Homes

Abandoned Homes

Abandoned Homes

Abandoned Homes

Abandoned Homes

Field of Wildflowers Leaving Kayakoy

After returning to the ship, we had lunch and just relaxed on the ship.  In the afternoon our gullet cruised to our first cove, where we spent 2 nights as the captain was afraid that the weather was turning bad again and he did not want to be caught in high seas.  During the sail we saw many sailboats that were in a sailing regatta.  After anchoring in our new cove, several people went kayaking.   It was another quiet and peaceful evening and even the weather cooperated by not raining. 

Sailing Into Our First Cove

Sailing Into Our First Cove

Luminous Fish in the Cove