Ephesus

We visited the ruins of the city of Ephesus during the Christmas holidays - from December 25, 2012 to December 29,  2012.  We rode the bus from Ankara to Izmir, which is on the west coast of Turkey.  It took us approximately eight hours to reach our destination, and we enjoyed the beautiful farmland scenery on the way.  Ephesus in about an hour from Izmir, so we went on a tour and a bus picked us up at our hotel and drove us around. 

I did a little research on the Internet. "Ephesus was an ancient Greek city and later a major Roman city on the west coast of Asia Minor near Izmir.  Ephesus was one of the seven churches cited in the Book of Revelation.  The city was the site of several 5th century Christian Councils.  It became the third most important city for Christianity after Jerusalem and Antioch, and rapidly gained in popularity.  The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 A.D.  The city's importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor slowly silted up by the Cayster River." 

The following pictures will hopefully give you an idea of what we saw.  The city of Ephesus ruins were discovered in 1860 AD during some excavating, and restoration started around 1950.  An area of the city is sectioned off and restored, which takes approximately 50 years to complete, and then another section is started.  There is much left to do, but much has been accomplished.  This is a must-see when you visit Turkey.

My first thoughts were that all the ruins were made recently to look old for Hollywood, but this is the real thing!  It was amazing.

A wall where people write prayers and
leave them there near Mother Mary's home.



Our first stop was at Jesus' mother Mary's home.
 (It is not certain that this was her home,
but there is good evidence that it is.)

At Ephesus, the theater seats 23,000 people
 (Conference Center in Salt Lake City seats 21,000)

The library.  Magnificent! 

 

 

 

 

Restoration of a neighborhood.

Mosaic floors.  Thousands of tiny pieces of tile
were laid to make these floor designs.

 

 

 

 

 

Public toilets



 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a place where rugs were handmade.

 

 

Silk thread is being unraveled from cocoons for the yarn for rugs.

 

 

A museum in Izmir.

 

The next day we walked around the city of Izmir.