Kusadasi (Terry)
It was about time we treated ourselves to a stay in a
civilised environment so we made our way along the coast into Setur’s Kusadasi
Marina.
Kusadasi? Never heard
of it BUT it turns out it is the
second-busiest port in Turkey, after Istanbul.
Why? This is why :
Ephesus is only about 15kms away and all these people are
here for that. You have not seen so many group
banners held high with “Pink 4” and “Red 6” outside Paris. Maybe Rome?
The marina is quite hi-spec, with cards for this and that
but amazingly they do not have any facility for dealing with the Turkish Mavi
card (waste water disposal). The
cruising guide is a little disparaging of the town but we found it quite
pleasant, with some good restaurants, and a nice Doner place where we sat in
the street on plastic stools with cars picking their way around us.
It is very touristy on the beachfront though and that was a
bit irritating. Nevertheless, we had a
pleasant three days there, refilled our water tanks, put a massive charge into
the batteries on a slow trickle and had a wonderful evening with a group of
engaging Kiwis who were delivering a boat for another Kiwi, but had the
privilege of delivering it in a roundabout way, via Turkey, Samos, Crete, The
Peloponnese, and into the Gulf of Patra.
Young Ben, Gordo (the rigger), Nicky and Craig, were full of life and
sparkle, up for adventure and excitement.
Craig had frequented the Fremantle waterfront in the America’s Cup
challenge in Perth. We hope we will run
into Nicky and Craig down the track when they sort out the mix between work, cruising
and retirement, and maybe we’ll run into Ben when he works out what boat to buy
and where.
Ephesus (Carol)
You know how you know one fact, and you know another fact,
but somehow you’d never really linked them together? Then when you finally do,
a whole lot of things line up and make sense. Well this was probably obvious to
everyone else, but I just realised that the people of ancient Ephesus were the Ephesians as in St Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, from the Bible. St Paul was
actually here (not really a surprise – he was nearly everywhere we’ve travelled
through the whole Mediterranean) preaching in the synagogue for three months to
Jews and pagans in what was then the major Eastern city of the Roman Empire.
Paul’s epistles were written to support and encourage his band of early
Christian converts here in Ephesus, as were his other letters to the
Corinthians, Romans etc. It becomes pretty clear touring around these parts
that without the zeal and energy of Paul, Christianity would probably have
remained a short-lived minor cult. The Virgin Mary is also supposed to have lived here, but I believe the source for that is a vision of a German nun, so we might put that one on hold awaiting further evidence.
Christianity seems to have been one of several forces that
conspired towards the fall of this great city. Texts from the time lament the
rise of this new cult as it was starting to impact on the lucrative sales of
icons from the Temple of Artemis and other shrines. I suspect the financial rage of
silversmiths had as much to do with the stoning of Christian martyrs as any
religious objections. And then their harbour silted up – so often the end of
great trading ports. The wonderful Celsus Library with its 15000 scroll books
was wrecked and burned by the Goths in 265 AD, along with the Temple of Artemis,
and that was pretty much the end of this outpost of the Empire in Asia.
Façade of the Library
Ephesus has the best preserved ancient ruins in the east –
some say the best anywhere. The street layout is retained, along with the
under-street water and sewerage systems (What have the Romans ever done for
us?) so you can literally walk the streets, passing the temples, the library,
the public baths and latrines, the brothel, the agora which would have been a
busy market. The most visible and impressive structure is an enormous theatre,
set into the hillside and with seating for 25000. Cultural events were held
here, but the most popular attractions were apparently gladiatorial battles
with various wild beasts. There are high walls around the seating area to
protect the front rows from being attacked.
The theatre dominates the site
A broad processional way, lined with pillars that would have had statues on top, runs down to the ancient harbour. Marc Antony and Cleopatra walked into the city along here, their path strewn with flowers.
The road to the harbor
For a few lira more, you can go inside to check out the
archaeological site of current activity, the houses of the wealthier Ephesians
terraced into a hillside. These are in remarkable condition, with vivid
frescoes and mosaics depicting scenes from myth and everyday life, bathrooms,
kitchens, dining halls and bedrooms. You can also see the work of the
archaeologists – the painstaking uncovering and piecing together of these
precious artefacts over months and years.
Frescoes
World's hardest jigsaw puzzle
Neptune mosaic
Ephesus was wonderful. Even the crowds, with a little
imagination, could be visualised milling about the streets and markets in their
togas and sandals. The Ephesians must have felt proud of their bustling,
prosperous city, trading with all corners of the known world, a centre of
commerce and culture. They must have felt important. How could their
sophisticated, civilised way of life fail to endure and progress?
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