June 17, 2022

Once again I am in the position of trying to summarize an entire day of a tour guide pouring information into my brain. I’m so tired (this has been going on for a few days now from Venice to Greece to Turkey) so if this sounds disjointed, it is simply a mirror of what’s happening in my brain pan right now.

First of all, it’s not Turkey, it’s Anatolia.  So much more lyrical I think!  Yes, it’s Turkey but not Turkey according to our vivacious and fun guide, Banu.  Al had to ask if they eat turkey and not only do they eat turkey but they were major exporters of Turkey to the rest of Europe and thus the common name. Turkey is 98% Muslim but is not as conservative as other Muslim nations, due to Ataturk who came in and secularized the country, due to Ataturk (the Father of the Republic of Turkey).  That has to be the world record for use of the word “turkey” in one paragraph.

If it isn’t clear to you yet, Al plans the trips and I pack my stuff and go.  I knew we were going to Ephesus and the apparent home of the Virgin Mary.  I did not know that Ephesus was actually an entire town of ruins.  At one time there were 250,000 people living there, it was a thriving seaport city and lots of rich people lived there.  The main goddess was Artemis and the temple to her was one of the Ancient Wonders of the World.  At this point all that remains of that temple is one measly column. With a stork nest (including little ones) on top.   This is all BC stuff and the usual pull and tug of who is in charge went on (can you sense I’m getting tired of hearing this story). Then the usual Christians vs. Pagans conflict started, St. Paul spent a two years there and most people were happy ( Banu told us the people were ripe since all their groveling to their gods was not really helping them stay out of the way the bad guys who wanted their stuff – Paul was filling up the 25,000 seat stadium) until a guy named Demetrius got irritated that Artemis was losing her status and he staged a riot against Paul.  The town protected Paul but he decided to scoot anyway since other Christian evangelists were not faring to well in the staying alive department.  It was after that you get Paul’s letter to the Ephesians from his new digs in Macedonia. 

Yes, a 25,000 seat stadium.  A library.  Temples.  Three story mansions.  All this from the seaport economy.   They kept rebuilding after the above-mentioned this n that of various bad guys coming in who destroyed it.   So what the heck happened that was the last straw?

Two things.  Earthquakes in the 6^th and 7^th centuries AD diverted the river that ran to the sea and slowly turned the whole bay into a silty marsh. Whereas it was a seaport town, the coast is presently 6 miles away.  And because of that came mosquitos.  And because of the mosquitoes came malaria.  That just about did it when 3,000 people died and then other guys decided to start invading again.  So the Ephesians just picked up and left.  Like some kind of ancient western ghost town, they left a lot behind when they moved. They took what they had to and left behind the everyday detritus of life like hundreds of little oil pots. So cute and I want one but they wouldn’t let me start to rummage around the hillside.

The hillside.  The hillside that slowly slid down over the town and buried a lot of it.  Not to be deterred, archaeologists (do I spell that differently every time? I feel like I am but I’m not getting redlined by spellcheck) started sifting through it all and boy did they find some cool stuff. 

There were main streets and public toilets and bathhouses and promenades with tiled sidewalks that went past shops.  It had huge agoras where the food was sold, it had a gymnasium (for the boys, of course) and brothels for the sailors. (They know this because of the road sign, see photos).  It was the terraced houses that blew us away though.  Mosaics and murals and even evidence that the homes had been redecorated with several layers of plaster on the walls with new artwork.  There were antiques from the Egyptians (any antique collectors out there? We weren’t the first…) Marble tables. Sculptures. These people had big bucks.   With help from many corporate benefactors from all over the world and even Virginia Tech modern diggers were able to build a 6 million dollar roof over the terraced homes that have been excavated to protect them from decay.  It is fascinating to see how they are putting literal puzzle pieces together of walls and floors and then putting them back where they belong.  Tables and tables of puzzle pieces.   They have not been able to work there since Covid but are expected to be able to come back later this month.  I can’t imagine being able to do such exciting work as putting puzzles together and then having to just stop.  I get obsessed doing a jigsaw puzzle on my dining room table and there’s no real importance in that.  There will be photos of this and although they know there is much much more under those hills, when they complete this restoration that will be the end of it. Unless someone comes a long with more millions. 

The mosaic floors have not been dusted since 2019 so are a little dusky but still visible. 

They had steam heat in these homes.

One photo below shows how the marble was sliced to be able to mirror it on the walls.  Not really sure how they were able to get it so thin with tools available at the time.

They had an area for musicians to play music while they took a dump in the public toilets.  Great job, that, huh?

The 25,000 seat stadium and other areas of the town are still used for concerts.   

Backgammon games etched in rock all over the place.  

The brothel sign in the photo.  It was a seaport and the sailors were welcomed as sailors often were and are.  The footprint was the size your foot had to be to enter.  Circled on the right is an etching of a woman with a crown.  Circles on the left is a heart.  ‘Nuff said.

The town that became the new Ephesus is Selcuk  and that’s where we were the rest of the day.

Moving on to the rug weaving.  Those salespeople take one look at me and because I am thrilled by the art of it and pay rapt attention to the demonstration of how they make them, they figure I’m in the market for a $30,000 rug. I’m not but believe me, if I owned a terraced home and was an Ephesus scion I probably would be.  I know now the difference between a double knotted rug and a single knotted rug, a silk rug versus a mercerized cotton (the cotton is softer and silkier), a regular cotton and a silk/cotton combo, a wool rug, a machine made rug versus a handmade rug. I know that Turkish silk is pure white because they feed them mulberry leaves. There is a mile of silk thread in a single cocoon. I wish I needed a rug.  They are indescribably luscious and colorful.

After that we had lunch – I’m going to resist buying a Turkish cookbook to add to my collection of cookbooks from other parts of the world that I never use, but it’s tempting just for yogurt plus goodies recipes alone.  Kebabs of course but beef/lamb meatballs (they are called meatballs in Turkey regardless of their shape) and cheese sticks.  I have NOT been watching my weight, rationalizing that the food is fresh and I’m walking 10-20k steps a day but I don’t think I’m going to win any Weight Watchers loser of the week awards.  Really what needs to stop is the daily ice cream.

Next stop – the shrine of the house of the Virgin Mary.  Our guide explained that although there is no actual written evidence that she lived there, there is still strong belief, even among Muslims.  It is known that she was “entrusted” to John when Jesus was killed and that when he moved to Ephesus because he was in danger of persecution, it is likely she was with him.  The home is up in the hills in a forest-like setting and certainly protected.  The strongest evidence that it was actually her home at the end of her life is that the ruin (which is now like a chapel) has long been honored by descendants of the early Christians of Ephesus.  I supposed as an oral and ritualistic tradition it has some merit. Regardless, was a lovely setting and nice to think of this real woman (who is also mentioned in the Quran) spending her final years here after having a rather tumultuous early life.  As a cradle Catholic it is definitely strange to return to port and see tour signs blinking on and off “House of Virgin Mary!” intermittently with “Ephesus”!  House of Mary magnets, too.  

I was hoping the whole experience would be a little more spiritual than it turned out to be.

The only thing I can say and this is really stretching it, is that as we passed the garden there were little white butterflies flitting around a bush on the right of the fountain and one single butterfly flitting around the bush on the left.  I decided to count the butterflies on the right and I’m not lying there were twelve.  You know I’m a believer in things beyond our human understanding so I’m going to go ahead and say it was a sign – the twelve apostles and Mary flitting around. I know, I know.  But ya never know.  Just because it can’t yet be proved by our inferior human selves doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Our official tour itinerary was over but Banu was willing to take us wherever we wanted to go.  So we stopped at the Ephesus Museum which was well worth the stop as many artifacts from Ephesus are kept there – outdoor sculptures as well as stuff from inside the homes.  These people were LOADED.

Then we had an option to stop at Lotus Ceramics Gardens .  There used to be several different families who made this pottery but they decided that competition was not serving any of them well so they formed a corporation and now they are all supported by UNESCO.  The pottery is made from local clay which produces strong and clear-as-a bell ringing pottery.  We were looking for a wedding present and decided on the moonstone glazed pottery which glows in the dark.  It is not radioactive and is food safe but we still opted for a vase as a gift.  The older woman who was painting pottery when we arrived was part of one of those families and she was a woman of my heart, painting miniature designs on pottery.  When they needed a volunteer to play with the clay of course I stepped up.  I had never done it before and was complimented that my touch was good – in other words I didn’t splatter clay all over everything within a twenty foot radius.  I credit my fine motor skills from years of playing piano.  Also, I am concerned because it was highly satisfying and the last thing I need is another hobby.

One thing you see a lot of are stray cats and dogs.  I don’t know if it is true for cats – you know how THEY are about their independence – or if it’s true in Istanbul, but dogs are well cared for in the towns we were in.  They are fed and vaccinated and neutered and loved.  “They are all friendly” according to Banu. The green tag on the ear of the dog in the photo is proof of his vaccination.  How cool is that!?!?!?!?!?

We finally ended up as we always do, at port. Because Al had sought out this private tour company (there were three buses of 6, 5 and 4 people respectively) and had booked through the same company for Istanbul, and had kept in touch all these Covid years, the grateful owner gifted us with a plate – the same pottery we had lusted over in Selcuk. The real deal, not fake souvenir shop stuff.  Not moonstone but we’ll take it.  What a lovely momento and it will join our dining room wall of art from our travels.

Today (the next day)  is a REST DAY THANK GOD!!!!  We sail to Istanbul but tonight we take a nighttime dinner boat trip through the Bosphorus which separates Europe from Asia, supposedly a phenomenal experience.  When I finish posting this I’ll be hand sewing a quilt top the rest of the day and enjoying the ride from the Crow’s Nest through the Dardanelles.