Ephesus, Turkey Review

The Mother of all ruins.  Huge....and with that, Ephesus is said to contain the largest collection of Roman ruins in the eastern Mediterranean region with only an estimated 15% of the site having been excavated to date.  It's phenomenally large.  Spectacular to ogle and ponder even if you didn't bother to find out what everything was.  But if you're there, you have to.

The ruins that are now visible give you some idea of the city's original composition, and the names associated with the ruins are a reminder of its former status as a major port of the ancient world. The Library of Celsus dominates the view down the main passage, right at the bend towards the stadium, which leads to the long silted up harbor.  The Library of Celsus, whose façia was reconstructed from the original pieces, was originally built in 125 BC by Julius Aquila, and held over 12,000 scrolls, making it the largest library in the Mediterranean.

Ephesus was also a center for the early christian movement around 50 AD, and the apostle Paul was supposed to have lived here from 51 AD to 54 AD.  It is believed that the apostle John may have also written in Ephesus, and his tomb....real thing or not....is located in Ephesus.  Just down the road from Ephesus, the house believed to be the last home of the Virgin Mary, is a scant 4 miles away in the town of Selcuk, and available for viewing for a fee.  Ephesus, with all of it's purported religiously tied history, has been a site of pilgrimage of the faithful for many, many, years. 

Current excavation work is being performed under the direction of the Austrian University, and tower cranes abound throughout the site, particuaraly around the stadium which was thought to have held around 25,000 people.  The most prominent of the excavation sites currently is the slant house excavation which is completely covered and open for viewing to the general public.  The slant houses show ancient wall coverings and mosaic floors of the well off inhabitants of Ephesus of the time period, and tend to leave even the most jaded of the ruin crawlers impressed. 

How to get there:  It's about 6 miles from the Port of Kusadasi, and about an hour from the major transportation hub of Izmir.  Tours, transportation, and guides are available pretty much anywhere you go. 

Cost:  It costs about 12 Turkish Lira for entry, which works out to about 8 USD.  Personal guides are available on site for groups or individual parties for a nominal amount, which I would highly recommend considering the amount of historical events that have transpired here. 

Travelers tip:  Come early in the day.  When the cruise ships dock in Kusadasi, thousands of tourists flood the site, and make the experience somewhat claustrophobic even considering the vastness of the site.