A Wonder of the Ancient World

Happy Friday!  After another huge breakfast buffet most of us were back on the bus for the optional "Ephesus & House of the Virgin Mary" day tour.  The land in this area is very fertile because the sea has receded about 2 miles since ancient time, so they now grow lots of peaches, cherries, and pomegranates.  It started raining as we left Kuşadasi and then rained the whole time we were at the House of the Virgin Mary (or Meryem Ana Evi in Turkish).  It's located atop 'Bulbul' mountain and some believe she came and lived there because John lived in Ephesus while spreading the Gospel.  To be clear, there is no decisive historical evidence to support the theory that Mary spent the last years of her life in Ephesus.  I did find it curious that Serdar tells these "stories" of Mary as if they are facts.  I don't know if he does so because the Catholic and Orthodox churches teach them as fact, but it was interesting.

 For instance, one of the "proofs" for the location was because of a blind German nun having a vision that described the location.  They also point to the evidence of "the documented presence of St. John in Ephesus...In Selçuk, we can even see the tomb of St. John and his basilica. The second premise is the existence in Ephesus of the Church of St. Mary. It was the first temple devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Additional arguments brought during the debate over the authenticity of the House of the Virgin Mary are the choice of Ephesus on the venue of the Council of Ephesus. It was convened in 431 to resolve the dispute concerning the determination of the unification of human and divine nature in Jesus Christ and the title of Mary as the Mother of God. Additionally, the Greek inhabitants of the nearby village of Şirince had the custom of pilgrimages to a place called Panaya Kapulu to celebrate the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary."  All that to say, I'm thankful we didn't stay long - it was raining and there wasn't much to see anyway.

Modern day Ephesus is known as Selçuk, and by the time we made our way there the rain had reduced to a sprinkle and eventually the sun was out in full force - we were even starting to shed our layers!  I'm told that Ephesus changed locations five times and that we were visiting the third location (I would surmise that Selçuk is the 5th?).  Regardless, I enjoyed our tour immensely - the remains were quite spectacular, back-dropped against the bright blue sky.  The Temple of Artemis once stood in Ephesus and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  We walked along the 2,000 year old marble streets and through the Gate of Heracles, saw the Odeion, toured ancient bath houses (the ancient world afforded little privacy), climbed to the top of the Great Theater, ogled the Temple of Hadrian, and stood in awe of the amazing Library of Celsus (book-free, but stunning none-the-less).

Library of Celsus

Serdar even told us the story of St. Paul being expelled from the city (found at the end of Acts 19).  Demetrius made shrines to Artemis (also known as Diana) and started a riot because so many people were becoming followers of The Way and no longer needed his particular trade.

Artemis (Greek deity) or Diana (Roman equivalent)

Bizim Ev Hanimeli restaurant was our next stop - a delightful buffet of homemade Turkish food!  The owner told us the names of all the dishes they had prepared; the veggie fritters were delicious, as was everything else.

With full bellies we headed to our final stop of the day, the Basilica of St. John.  Some believe he was zapped by lightning and disappeared at the age of 106, and yet others believe the church stands over his burial site.  Constructed by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, thousands made pilgrimages here in the middle ages because of the tomb of St. John.  "But with the decline in importance of Ephesus, and after Arab raids, the basilica fell into ruins until the Seljuk Aydinoglu clan converted it into a mosque in 1330. The building was then completely destroyed in 1402 by Tamerlane's Mongol army. The ruined church was thereafter pillaged for building materials, but recent restoration enables visitors to understand its size and visualize its former splendor."

Upon exiting the Basilica a coin hawker called out to me, "Medusa, would you like to buy a coin?  It has your picture on it!" I gave a chuckle and said "No, thank you."  Earlier in the day, when Serdar pointed out Medusa on the Temple of Hadrian and gave her origins in Greek mythology, Frank had remarked about how they might have to start calling me that because my hair looked so similar.

Back at our lovely hotel, with time to kill before dinner, I wandered down along the cliff-side paths to explore.  I can imagine how lovely it would be here in the summer (despite the crowds) - jumping into the bright blue Aegean Sea would be so refreshing.