Ephesus

July 19

Ephesus was absolutely the most amazing thing. It was the place I was most wanting to go to since I knew something about it. Visiting an early Christian community very much appealed to me. We thought the other ancient sites we’d been to were neat but this one blew them out of the water. It was huge. It kept going and going. Whenever we thought this must be it we would round another corner and a whole other section of the city was laid out in front of us. Our guide was very enjoyable. He had many stories to help make the city come alive. I loved hearing about the different cultures and faiths that walked the streets. Of course, knowing that a Christian community had grown there was a highlight too, walking the streets that Paul and later John the Evangelist had walked, where they did their ministry was humbling in a way.


I loved finding Christian symbols people had carved in stones to secretly indicate to others who they were (since they were still being persecuted at the time.) The round circle with the star lines in the middle spelled out the word FISH in Greek. Other stone slabs had crosses carved into them. Although earlier the guide had also pointed out that the cross at the time was also a pagan symbol. The buildings and the monuments were so huge and grandiose. The streets were made of marble and in some spots one could see what apparently are grooves made by chariots. One slab had the goddess Nike on it. Oh I now forget who she’s the goddess of….victory?? rings a bell. The guide showed us how her gown flows and the tail end is in the shape of the Nike company’s symbol. Concidence? I think not. We walked back through the city to get back to the car as the sun was getting ready to set. Other tourists were gone and it was beautiful to walk back in the quiet and the different light.

Back on route we stopped at a beautiful little mountain town called ?? where I bought my new niece cute little booties from a Turkish momma. We did some wine tasting and wandered through the closing market. We were thankful to arrive at our hotel in Kusadesi.