Ephesus, Turkey

Today we were a little anxious. The Captain had sent a letter to all passengers concerning the security assessment for Turkey with the preface that Holland America will not go to a port if there is "passengers will be presented with unreasonable risk to safety & security". We decided to go ahead with our excursion. When the excursion host called for our tour group & said Ephesus & terror houses versus terrace houses, we were wondering if we made the right decision!

Our tour guide, Khan, quickly put us at ease. He was a retired professor...complete with pull down map of Turkey on the the bus! Turkey is in a very unique situation, only Muslim democracy in Middle East, neighbors with Iran, Iraq, Syria & Russia & others.  Asked if we wanted to change neighbors but also did thank the USA for its support. We also got a lecture about the similarities between Christian & Muslim beliefs.

Our first stop was the Shrine of the Virgin Mary. It is believed she spent her last days in Ephesus. In a country where 95% of its citizens are Muslim, it was amazing to us that Khan said this site is holy to Muslims as well. There is a large statue of Mary on the side of the road on the way to the chapel. There is also a wall there where people stuff prayer requests written on cotton into cracks in the wall. It was also the only place we saw a soldier with machine gun surveying the crowd.

The highlight of our visit was Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the antiquity. There is so much there and Khan sat us down in the middle of the State Agora to give us a history lesson before we wandered to see the sights. Much of Ephesus was destroyed by a major earthquake in the 800's. The Terrace Houses were probably the first condos. They were around 3500 sq ft each & built around interior gardens. The mosaic floors  are remarkable.  They had inside plumbing with terra cotta drain pipes. They are in the process of reassembling the puzzles that were the granite walls. The Celsius Library dates back to 2nd century. Built by the Roman Council of Asia Minor, it contained over 12,000 scrolls. It is 3 stories tall with an open space in front for making speeches or reading poetry. The statutes of women represent Wisdom, Fate, Virtue & Knowledge. The Grand Theater  (2,000 BC) can seat 24,000-25,000 & has almost perfect acoustics. Paul preached here in 54 AD.

Our next stop was the ruins of the Basilica of St. John where the body of St. John use to be buried. It overlooks a mosque named after Jesus Christ.

We went to a facility for a Turkish buffet lunch. While delicious, the highlight was the entertainment. Think Russian Cossack like dancers. I don't know how their knees survive the dances they do.

Our last stop was a demonstration on silk making & carpet weaving followed by "persuasion" on rug buying. When you consider that most of theses rugs can take 2-3 years to make and last over 100 years, the prices are very reasonable but we weren't in the market. They must have unrolled 30 rugs & even did a "flying rug" demonstration. Next we had to walk the gauntlet of the Turkish Bazaar & it's friendly persistent salespeople to get back on the ship.