Our first stop was in southern Turkey, so we could now say we have officially been to Asia, as Turkey is 95% in Asia and 5% in Europe. The country has 83 million citizens., with 96% being Muslims. The Ottoman Empire ruled the area from the 14th century until the end of World War I, when it became an independent country. It has been a member of NATO since 1951.

Our tour was to Ephesus, which is where the apostle John wrote his epistles. Our tour started at 6:45am and with a time difference of 9 hours, we got up and watched the end of Sunday night football before breakfast. LOL

The port of call for Ephesus is Kusadasi, which has 85,000 citizens.

Our tour guide was Tzer and on our drive to Ephesus, we learned that Turkey is the 3rd largest producer of olive oil in the world, but the largest agricultural product is cotton. Along the road there were numerous mulberry trees which are used for the silk industry. Silk worms thrive on mulberry leaves. The ancient Silk Road actually ended in Ephesus. The main industry of the area is automobile production. Ephesus is also where the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World once stood.

We arrived at Ephesus just as the sun was coming up. There are two entrances, an upper and a lower entrance. We started at the upper entrance, near the Baths of Varilus.

Ephesus was a sea port until the 8th century, when the silt from the river began to fill in the bay. The city ruins are now 5 miles from the ocean. To reach Ephesus we drove up the old bay.

Ephesus is important in Christianity, as this is where the Apostle John, lived for 3 years while writing his epistles or memoirs. He actually traveled here with the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ mother.

The State Agora was a public area and meeting place for governemnt.

The main street of Ephesus.

The columns from the arch of Hercules, which gets it’s name from the carvings on the columns. It is believed to have been built around the 2nd century. The walk down the main street is down hill toward the old bay.

65% of the arch has been found and reassembled at the Temple of Hadrian, which was built around 130 AD.

The architecture was fascinating yet very exquisite for the time.

You could still see the tiled floors of the buildings that were constructed in the 1st century.

One of the important buildings was the public restrooms.

The Library of Celsus was built around 100 AD and at one time contained over 12,000 ancient scrolls. The library was damaged by fire in 262 AD and in the 10th century, partially destroyed by an earthquake. When excavation was done in the 1970s, over 65% of the theater front was discovered. It has now been partially restored.

Looking out of the front of the library, is the ruins of the brothel, but the road marking is still visible.

Walking toward the lower or “port” entrance is aptly named Marble Street…

Ephesus Great Theatre was located on Panayir Hill near the lower entrance. It was original built in 250 BC but later enlarged to it’s present size.

The Commercial Agora, which was the public market place and was close to the harbor entrance, which is why The area was called Harbor Street.

Ephesus had been a whirlwind of information and history. We headed back to Kusadasi, for a visit to a rug store, where we watched how Turkish rugs are weaved. Rugs take an average of 5 months to produce and can contain 625 knots per square inch.

During the demonstration we were given a hot apple tea, much like apple cider.

The owner was very knowledgeable and took great pride in his business.

The workers unrolled the different types and qualities of rugs. Cindy showed an interest in one of the rugs. The owner was very persuasive, but did not make a sale, much to Jim’s delight.

We had a short time, before we had to go back to the ship, so walked around the port area.

Our ship sailed out of Kusadasi in the early afternoon. We grabbed a quick snack and a quick nap, because we had another port that evening. What a full day!!