Kusadasi, Turkey

March 29, 2023

Kusadasi is a city on the coast of the Aegean Sea and is where we would head out on a tour to visit the ruins of Ephesus, an old Roman provincial capital that had a population of around 300,000 people by the 2nd century. When I was in college as a theatre major, we studied the Great Theatre of Ephesus and I was very excited to see it.

We headed out on our small group tour with our guide and drove through Kusadasi and across beautiful Turkish countryside. The peach orchards were blooming and the mountains were green.

Our first stop was the House of Virgin Mary. This is an official Catholic shrine and the belief is that this is the place Mary lived out her life after the resurrection of Jesus. No photos were allowed inside the small building.

Below the house, people leave their written prayers and entreaties along a wall.

This is, of course, a very popular place and that means that there are souvenir stalls and kids on field trips.

Back on our van and a few short kilometers later, we were at Ephesus. Again, we were stunned. Pictures are so much better than words to give you an idea of the breadth and scope of the city.

These are the men’s public toilets:

And these are the cats of Ephesus:

Our tour of Ephesus included a visit to the Terrace Houses, which were located in a newly excavated area. These are the remnants of the homes of the upper class citizens. Since the archeological work is ongoing, the site is enclosed. We saw lovely frescoes and mosaics.

After our visit to Ephesus, we made a short stop at the Basilica of St. John. This church was built by the Emperor Justinian over the tomb of St. John the Apostle.

We also got a glimpse of the ruins of the Temple of Artemis.

We had a tasty buffet lunch at a resort and then headed back to Kusadasi for a carpet weaving demonstration. I said we weren’t going to buy a Turkish carpet and I meant it. We bought one.

What we saw of Turkey was so beautiful. Our list of places we would like to go back to is getting very long!