Monday 2 September 2013

Day 9 (monday) Ephesus

Hi all. We may eventually get tired of ruins, but Ephesus was quite awe-inspiring. It is built on a hillside and was once a major port but the sea is now some miles away.

Famous of course because Paul spent some three years living there, was jailed after a Greek local turned a huge crowd against him at the Grand Theatre which seated 24 000 people (still there) and this is where he eventually escaped from the prison in an earthquake.

Even the ruins are beautiful and the water, sewerage, central heating, mosaic flooring etc can all be seen still.

Above the city in the hills is the location where John the Apostle brought Mary to live the last years of her life as things were pretty difficult for the Christians in Jerusalem. Quite a bit of evidence to support this but unfortunately commercialism has taken hold and they have built "Mary's House" on the spot where ruins were actally found.

Also visited a beautiful ceramics factory and a leather shop onthe tour. Across the road from our hotel is the ruin of a basillica built on the site of the grave of St.John - the only Apostle not to be martyred - he died of natural causes after having lived in this area for the remainder of his life.

Nice afternoon wandering around Selcuk, having coffee, icecream etc. Tough.

Trivia of the day:  The public toilet in Ephesus catered for fifty people at a time, all sitting on a marble seat with holes everyhalf metre or so - we have the picture to prove it!

Pictures: 1. The grand theatre where the crowd was turned against St.Paul 2. The library building 3. A shopkeeper playing his Zac for us (beautifully) - he then tried to sell us some carpet of course.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.