First stop today was the partly renovated archeological site of the city of Ephesus. What an amazing place. More extensive and fascinating even than the ruins in Rome. There were complete buildings, marble streets, large archways, tall columns and every part had an interesting story, sometimes about Greek and Roman history, sometimes about references in the New Testament. We took many photos and our guide talked for about an hour altogether providing us with facts and stories galore. The group showed the most interest in the least salubrious places. There were 49 cosy seats in the unisex toilets.
The bordello had an underground tunnel connecting with the library. This is the library. There were no ruins left of the bordello.
And this is the world's first adult advertisement. A foot carved in the road pointing towards the bordello. If you look to the right of the big toe you will see the face of a pretty lady. There is a rectangular object under that which could not really be a credit card.
The main street had shops either side like a mall with apartments on top.
The theatre held thousands of patrons and had high walls around the arena to protect the onlookers from gladiatorial battles and wild animals. Concerts have been performed by Sting, Diana Ross and other famous performers.
The sign of the fish was in evidence and we saw the letters: theta, epsilon and sigma.
These are the last letters of ichtheos - fish. We talked to a man who claimed to be a silversmith in the tradition of Demetrius from the book of Acts. Paul's teachings were affecting the sale of silver representations of the goddess Artemis and the town clerk quelled a riot which would have led to Paul's assassination. We bought the metal fish ($15) which now brings in sales from Christians.
Going from the sublimely historical to the craftily commercial, we spent an hour at a carpet showroom where we witnessed silk spinning and Turkish double knotting in hand making carpets. Large carpets can take up to five years to produce by hand.
After spreading dozens of carpets around we were invited to check their feel on our bare feet. We looked like a kindergarten class.
Lunch was provided today at a very traditional eatery where women prepared gozlemes and men served us on cushions in a Turkish tent.
Nearby was the grotto of the seven sleepers. A myth that occurs in several cultures
and is like Rip van Winkle. It may be in the Arabian Nights. This was their abode.
A quick trip to the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (Diana the huntress) showed us its dimensions were equivalent to a football field. Much of the building materials have been taken to western museums or used to build the fort, mosque and cathedral of St John the Evangelist that now overlook the site. The Virgin Mary is believed to have been buried where that cathedra stands.
Finally we went to a leather goods outlet where we watched a fashion parade of jackets which two of our group helped with.
They were items which would be sold under elite brand names, which we could by for 40% of retail. Still too dear for us. We got an early mark today (5pm) because the bus travel was a total of three hours only. Our regular bus was in for repairs to the air-conditioning, so we had a substitute bus and driver for today.
