Ephesus

Today we went to Ephesus, the best preserved ancient city in the mediterranian after Pompeii.

The city has existed on that site from around 1000 BC to 8th century AD. The ruins that still exist today are from the Roman era so are a bit more recent, although the Romans abandoned the city after an earthquake in around 350AD. It was originally settled by the Greeks and passed between Greek and Persion rule and was once part of Alexander the Great's empire. A large portion of the masonary was plundered for other cities and temples after the city was eventually deserted- some parts were used to build St John's Basillica which is only a few kms away and which was in turn also plundered for building materials.

Luckily we snuck in at opening time and the opposite entrance from the tour bus hoards so we got to see the two best areas- the amphetheatre and the library- in virtual solitude. Apparantly there were 10000 tourists there yesterday and 7000 expected today so we were fortunate to avoid them for a while.

The amphetheatre seats 25000 and the acoustics were amazing, you can hear someone talking on the stage from nearly the top seats (the very top was fenced off)
The library as you would expect, is a library- pretty self explanitory.
There were many beautiful wildflowers growing all over the site including snapdragons and loads of poppies. Also, a fair few cats who were totally unpreturbed by the human crowds.

The main goddess of worship in the area was Artemis and, in fact, the temple of Artemis is only a couple of kms from Ephesus. For those of you who remember their 7 ancient wonders, the temple of Artemis was one of them but all thats left is a single column and some marble slabs. The area floods in winter and ducks swim in the depression that was once the temple foundation.

Tomorrow we are on a 6 hour bus ride to Fethiye on the south western coast...