I have chosen 50 photos of the nearly 600 I took....and it just doesn't do it justice.
Alexander the Great walked these streets; Egyptian pharaohs ruled its people. The Gospel of John was most likely written here. St. Paul lived here, wrote here, preached here.
In 100AD, Ephesus' population was between 400,000 and 500,000- the largest city in Asia Minor.
It is massive, and it was massively crowded.
But we had Özgür with us. And our amazing tour guide knew some areas that the cruise ship tours don't go....
Here, in the solitude, surrounded by massive stone ruins, the modern world drifted away for a moment, and we were able to imagine, just briefly, life 2,000 years ago.
Alix stood in for a missing statue.
Julia was glad for the shade.
As were we all.
We learned bits of history, thanks to Özgür. Think this is graffiti?
Think again. It is a symbol used by ancient Christians. The circle contains all the Greek characters of the word "ichthys", or "fish", standing for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior".
The theatre, seating 24,000, was the largest in the ancient world.
Look at the inscription and see legendary names.
Agrippa, Caesar, Augustus, Mithridates.
It is too much to take in.
And then, right on cue (Özgür was nothing if not well timed!!!), Julius Caesar himself appeared.
(Ok, so they took a LITTLE license with history....but hey, it's been two thousand years, folks....)
And right behind him, Cleopatra.
A show worthy of the setting.
And, yes, lest we forget....always a bazaar!
This is the man.
Özgür Erdogan. Ace Tour Guide.
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