Ephesus
This city of Ephesus is not exactly in Ephesus in modern Turkey. Rather, it is situated in the town of Selcuk.
In order to give us more time to spend in Ephesus, our guide informed us that our first stop in this region will be the the house of the Virgin Mary. This small little place is situated on a hillside. After the bus ride up the hill, it is a short walk before you reach the place - you'll know which one judging by the long line of tourists to go into the house. According to legend, John (the apostle who wrote the book of Revelation) took care of Mary before he was sent to Patmos and he was the one who brought her here.
Ah, the city of Ephesus. It took us about 3 hours to complete just a short tour of the city, with our guide telling us about the history of how Ephesus came into being and how St Paul caused a near riot while he was preaching here. I would say the highlight of this place must be the library of Celsus. Alas, there was a American school having a graduation ceremony at this time, and so they had the library all to themselves.
Other sites include the Roman bath houses, Gate of Hercules, temples of Hadrian and Trajan (back in the days when emperors are regarded as gods to be worshipped), the statue of Nike, latrines, marketplaces, et cetera. Come to think of it, there's so much to write about this place that I think it will be better that I go get myself a book rather than spending time remembering what our guide told us.
Lastly, we paid a visit to the site where the Temple of Artemis was built. The only structure left of the temple, which is overlooking the Church of St John, are 2 pillars. Most of the temple has been looted (with 2 pillars currently used to build the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul). Quite a sorry sight compared to its heyday when the worship of Artemis made this place one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.
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