Ephesus
Efes
Curetes way
August 17, 2005
We got to the dolmuş station, stopping to eat a kebab on the way and went on our
way to Ephesus. The taxis were waiting for us trying to tell us that the walk is
too far and that we needed a taxi. Hasan, our hotel host and a friend of Lucho,
my former Peruvian landlord back home warned us about them and we didn’t buy into
it so began walking.
Every time I asked Elizabeth about Ephesus she seemed uninterested. She's
been here before and didn't like it much the first time. Ephesus is truly a
tourist trap, but as I soon found out for good reason. We fought through the almost
unbearable heat and saw this great city. As Elizabeth predicted she didn’t like
it, but I fell in love. This is the city that the Virgin Mary and St. Paul lived
in after the Crucifixion. It was the citizens of this city that the Acts of the
Apostles is about, and it is here that I grew up hearing about and I didn’t even
realize it… "Letters from St. Paul to the Ephesians." The place is in
incredible shape and the streets, pillars, and various buildings are still standing.
The Great Theater is incredible and can hold 25,000 people. The streets are incredible
marble still in good shape and the library of Celsus is truly remarkable. The detail
is phenomenal and the fact that it is still standing is perhaps even more remarkable.
The entire place can only be well described through pictures and walking the streets
themselves, picturing the place 2,000 years ago as a huge metropolis thriving as
a regional power and center for the arts and education among others.
Agora
Great theater
Great theater
Library of Celsus
Library of Celsus
Toilets