The Boswells in Europe

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August 2006 - Ephesus

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The history of Ephesus stretches all the way back to the Hittites and was the home to some very important Christian historical figures. The Virgin Mary lived her last years here, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians here, the apostle John died here and Ephesus is one of seven cities mentioned in Revelations.

Of course Ephesus is also home to one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis. When we asked how we could find the temple we were told to go to the British Museum as its all there and all that is left now is a hole that collects water in the winter!

 
Looking down towards the Library of Celsus
The drive to Ephesus from Dalyan took us around 4 hours and it was stinking hot! In fact it probably didn't help that the 5 horse power engine in our bus lost 4 horses when the air con was turned on! Consequently most of the trip was driven with the air con turned off!
Monkey resting in the shade :)
Heading down towards the Library of Celsus.
Wharepaku! Whetu using the communal Roman toilets :)
A huge ancient Roman mosaic.
Greek writing in the Library of Celsus.
The Library of Celsus. Supposedly rivaled the great library of Alexandria at its height and because of this the Egyptians refused to provide papyrus. There is also a "secret" tunnel that goes from the library to a brothel (there is a story of a man who told his wife he was going to the library and when he used the tunnel to get to the brothel found his wife working there :)
The coliseum of Ephesus is huge...and its still used today for various performances (anyone for camel wrestling?:) At its height it could take 25,000 people and you can still see the holes in the ground where poles and extra fencing were placed for when gladiators fought against animals (you cant go having your paying public killed off by wild animals now can you:) What is really cool though is when you stand in the middle and merely talk loudly, you can hear your voice being amplified and carried up to the crowds in the top rows!
After we had finished at Ephesus (and weathered the hawkers as we left, who were shouting "kiwi, kiwi, ka mate, ka mate..come buy from me") we headed off for a spot of lunch. Perhaps the funniest sign we have ever seen was near the entrance to the toilets :)
Ottoman Castle
Finally we stopped at a little museum before heading on to Pamukkale.This statue used to stand at one of the major temples at Ephesus. At around 6 meters high in its prime its now merely a massive forearm and a huge head!