Friday, January 24, 2014 
and 
Saturday, January 25, 2014

Selcuk and Ephesus: Artemis, where are you?

Good-bye Izmir, hello Selcuk with Artemis’ temple and all kinds of other very old stuff (circle #2 of 10 on the map).  Our traditional breakfast at our hotel (the Guzel) in Izmir was a tasty and filling, readying us for our trip by car to Selcuk, some 40 to 50 miles south of Izmir.  Along the way, we bought some oranges and tried to find out what the local fish monger was selling, but he thought we wanted the price – it’s 15 Turkish lire, for what?  We don't know.

We checked out a few guesthouses and found what appears to be a great one, Homeros, in the heart of Selcuk but on a quiet street.  You know me, I love the price of 90 Turkish lira per night (that’s $40) for the two of us, full breakfast included.  Our room on the top floor has a great view to the west where,on a clear day, we can see the Aegean sea some 9 km beyond the red tile roof tops below us.  One small flight of stairs upward gets us to the roof terrace where we can have a panoramic view of the city of 28,000 people.

Friday was a light touring day for us after we settled into our abode.  First we had a good lunch of local dishes (too many!) at a small restaurant recommended to us by our guesthouse proprietor.  It is in the heart of the small commercial district and overlooks a pre-Roman (Helenistic) aqueduct behind a stunning granite sculpture celebrating Turkish independence obtained on October 12, 1939 at 2:40 PM. . 

Then we went to the church of St. John (the Baptist, apostle of Christ, and author of significant portions of the New Testament of the Bible).  Historians say that he and Mary, the mother of Jesus, fled Jerusalem because of Roman oppression and made their way through Cyprus to Ephesus where they spent their remaining years and eventually died. The church was built over the tomb of St. John by the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora.

A quick trip to the Isa Bey mosque, just down the road from the Church of St. John, and a mere 750 years old, filled out our religious experiences for the day. 

Then it was on to the Temple of the goddess Artemis (Mother Earth).  Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and she is one of the main things we hoped to see on this trek.  She had many attributes, and those were not cantaloupes.  Dolly Parton, move over.

All that’s left of her temple is one column and a bit of rubble. 

I don’t remember how old the temple is said to be, but one iteration of it was burned in 356 B.C. by a fellow named Herostratus who wanted to make a name for himself.  Of course, you must know of him.  Most of the temple blocks were hauled off over the years of earthquakes and destruction to be used in other monumental structures.  So even though the Temple of Artemis is just one pillar today, it lives on in other structures built, destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed over the centuries.  Artemis herself, actually statues of her,are in the museum, right here in Selcuk.  More about that later.

Saturday - breakfast as usual and a 5 minute car ride got us to the north entrance of the Ephesus site at 8:30, before anybody else.  Ephesus dates back to at least 8000 B.C.

We enjoyed the solitary experience of the sun rising over the mountain and casting its glow ever lower on the Library of Celsus, erected in 135 A.D. by Julius Aquila.  It’s huge and impressive!  And what a treat with no other tourists yet in sight.

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Tourists arrived by the bus loads at about 9:00 AM at the south gate and we met somewhere in the middle later.  There are too many important things to list here but I must mention that Mary (the mother of Jesus) had The Church of the Virgin Mary dedicated to her here before any other in the world.  At this church in the year 431 A.D the Third Ecumenical Council was held.  Among other things, Christian leaders decided that Jesus was born to the human being, Mary, not to a god incarnate, Mary (if I got the terminology right).  Her church is about 20% the size of St. John’s.

Some of the other sites of note at Ephesus include Hadrian’s Gate (Roman emperor, 118 – 138 A.D.), Hadiran’s Temple, and the latrines, to name but a few. 

By the way, two statues of Artemis are in the museum in Selcuk - it's closed.