Ephesus: Home of the Virgin Mary, church of St. John, İsa Bey Mosque and Ancient city of Efes

Ephesus (known here as Efes) was a major stop on our trip. The ancient city is in the southern corneer of the western state of İzmir. While amny of you may not be familiar with the name I know you have all seen pictures of the Celsus Library (built for Tiberius Julius Celsus Polomaeanus, and ancient greek governor of Roman Asia) at some point, it resembles a free standing Petra. Like most ancient cities, Ephesus has been built, burned, pillaged, conquered and rebuilt by the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs and Ottomans. The area was inhabited as far back as the 10th century BC but the original city was founded around 6,000 BC. Ephesus was once the second largest city in the world with a population of over 250,000 and second in importance only to Constantinople. It was famous for the Temple of Atremis, once considered on of the seven wonders of the world before it was destroyed in 401AD by St.John Chrysostum. The city is also one of the seven churches of Asia, three more of which are in the area, five of which I have been to. Ephesus is believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers, saints to the Catholic and Orthodox churches, also mentioned in the Qur'an. It was home to the Christian counsels of the 5th century and the home and church of the Virgin Mary as well as the Basilica os St. John are nearby. Ephesus stretches three kilometers in size with some excavation still being done. The city boasts two full theaters capable of seating 25,000 with better accoustics than many modern concert arenas, full bath houses still in very good shape, many temples are still retain their full detail, mosaiced floors are still in tact in the homes of the wealthy, the front of the Library of Celsus, a large gladiator graveyard, large, paved streets still in good condition, marble stalls of the market place and ofcourse ancient greek graffiti. Emperor Constantine I is responsible for most of the city we see today. He rebuilt it in the 500's AD after it was partially destroyed in 401AD and then was again damaged by a large earthquake in 614. The city once sat along the Cayster River and as it silted up the city fell into decline.
Ephesus has pretty much been inhabited and praised by every significant emperor from every major empire of the region, capital city of many empires, home to many fabled battles, martyrs, gods and goddesses and the history is more extensive than I can ever tell you.
The home and church of the Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St. John are not too far from the ancient city. While I was not able to go inside the Basilica, the buiding is very beautiful from the outside and covered in flowers in the spring. The home of the Virgin, whie not more than a simple stone building, is said to have been built for her by St. John after Christs crucafixtion. It sits in a very serene cedar forest in the mountains and is a very popular pilgrimage site for Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Below the Church on the mountain side between stone fountains fed by natural springs, is a huge wishing wall. It is covered in papers, tissues, socks and whatever else was onhand, upon which visitors have written prayers and wishes to the Virgin Mary, all tied and crammed into wooden posts attached to the wall written in every language you can think of. The walk leading up to the church is lined with gold signs explaining the site in every major language of the world.
The only real significance of the İsa Bey Mosque compared to its surroundings is that it is sort of old and was a part of an important Karavansaray, or safe haven for merchant caravans protected by the ottoman empire, and built in the 1300's. The description of "sort of old" made sound ridiculous but here is an example of just how used to the extreme age of their surroundings the Turks are. When I was in Samsun for Christmas one of the Turkish students was taking us around the city and pointed out a cafe saying it was one of the popular new hangout spots to which one of us responded reading the sign "Founded 1987?" "Well, it's new to us".
Ephesus was one of my favorite stops and even without knowing the history of the place, the size and detail is mind blowing. I will try and get pictures posted as soon as I can.

Start of the big trip: Çanakkale and Troy

Our Big trip took place over Turkeys winter break in the first two weeks of February. We covered the western most third of the country and saw 14 ancient cities in ten days. We started by visiting Çanakkale on the Marmara south of İstanbul. Çanakkale is very, very important to the Turks because it is the place where Turkey fought to gain independence as a seperate republic. The whole place is spread out cemetaries and memorials and several pre-existing castles.It was an interesting stop because the graves aren't just for the Turks who fought, but those from France, Greece, New Zealand and Australia are equally recognized as well.
The next stop was to the actual city of ancient Troy, the same one from the movie and everything. So basically it was awesome. Because it is so old the city is really just old walls and wells being excaveted. Troy was established long before it was burned and as a result there are many layeres of the city that were deserted and then rebuilt upon several times. There are nine Troys, the second one ebing the most famous and the burned. The oldest city dates back to 3000-2600 BC and the last city ended in the Hellenistic age around the first century BC. Naturally much of the city is still buried but the site is huge and stretches over the mountain side and over looks the sea. Each Troy was heavily merchantile and an important port for ships coming and going from the Black and Aegean Seas. The cities were destroyed by earthquakes, deserted, burned and conquered. In some layers, evidence of a fluorishing city has been found, coins, pottery, weaponry, bodies, etc. In others almost nothing, TroyIV, for example, is thouht to have been destroyed by an earthquake and all that has been found is a single arrowhead. Over time, the coastline has moved further away from the city so while it is in clear view from anywhere in Troy, it is not a convenient distance or as close as it was when the city was inhabited. Troy is also known in Turkey as Truva, Troia and Troas.

The pictures above are of what is believed to be the legendary wall from Troy II and the layers of streets that have been uncovered.

to the classes

Since Mr. Lyon has introduced you to the blog I wanted you all to know a few things. I know you can ask questions for extra points and I have a lot of long posts and I have a lot more to put up. You can ask questions about anything. Nothing is taboo. Culture, politics, social life, etc. Whatever you want, it doesnt have to be just about the posts, and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Antakya, Hatay, Convergence place of the Abrahamic religions

Back in november, the weekend of Thanksgiving, we took another trip to the state of Antakya also known as Hatay, in the southeast bordering Syria. This is the location of the first known Christian church as well as the worlds fourth largest acheological museum, one of the oldest mosques in the country, mosaics and caves. The church of Saint Pierre is in the city of Antakya where we spent the first day touring. The church itself is very impressive for its age and still in very good condition. It was carved out of the mountain side and also sits along side many smaller caves and tunnels. There is an old cathlic school in the city we were allowed in to visit. We were also allowed to go exploring through one of the bazaars and ended up finding old abandonned wood shops that we discovered we could walk from roof to roof across the neighborhoods on.

Because the city holds great biblical significance, many devout christians from around the world make pilgramages to Antakya every year, I happened to be there on the same day as a group from France and another from Spain. I am also now called Hajı because I have ben to a holy place. The city also feels very old as well as looking like it. Many ancient buildings are currently under renovation to be turned into hotels, cafes and museums.
The second day of the trip was spent in the coastal city of İskanderun an hour south of Antakya. There isnt much to see there but it was a beautiful city.