Ephesus – eternally beautiful

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I felt the sizzling heat and while marvelling at the surrounding beauty around and above me as well as beneath my feet, I was also looking for a shade from the brightness of the sun… Cats on the other hand were lounging on the marble pillars and statues, clearly feeling at home, looking sleepily at the tourists passing by… After all, this was the famous Ephesus, a world-renowned ancient city, now a UNESCO World heritage site. I am sure cats were also present in those days when the original residents were going about their daily business. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if some of them were even direct ancestors of the cats who have made the ruins of Ephesus their home today?

Cats feeling at home in Ephesus

Ephesus has been a remarkable city in many different eras throughout its existence. At first it was one of the twelve cities of Ionian League since 10th century BC. Later it prospered under the Roman rule. It was also a very important location for early Christianity.

Perhaps one of the best known sites here is Celsus library, with its imposing entrance. I was surprised to see that it was quite simple and not very big inside. Nevertheless, it housed nearly 12 000 scrolls.

Celsus Library

Another well-preserved site is the theatre, once biggest in the world with the capacity to seat 25 000 people.

Ephesus Theatre

Ephesus is also the home of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, namely the magnificent Temple of Artemis, with its many-breasted Greek-Anatolian goddess Artemis-Kybele. It took more than 100 years to build but unfortunately, hardly anything is remained today.

Other notable sites are the Temple of Hadrian, agoras, bath complexes, an advanced aqueduct system and many other interesting sites and artefacts.

Temple of Hadrian

Among other dignitaries of bygone days, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra visited Ephesus. Perhaps the most prosperous era was the time of Augustus when the city flourished commercially and culturally as well as becoming an important administrative centre, governing Western Asia Minor, and being one of the biggest and most important cities of Roman Empire.

From early Christian era, it is thought that Gospel of John was written here and Apostle Paul lived here. According to Roman Catholic Church Mary spent the final years of her life in the house situated near Ephesus. Nowadays it is a popular pilgrimage destination for these reasons.

The city was eventually sacked by Goths, destroyed by an earthquake, and its harbour was gradually silted up by Kücükmenderes river, moving farther from the seaways of commercial ships… all this caused the gradual demise in the end.

Mosaic floor

What made the city ‘alive’ for me, besides the iconic cats, were the signs of everyday life in ancient times, like beautiful mosaic floors in private homes, a row of public latrines in the bath complex, the games carved into stone pavements… I could imagine the kids playing on the streets here as if it was just yesterday and people walking at the agoras, choosing fresh fruit and vegetables, bargaining with traders… I have been at Ephesus couple of times but there is still so much I haven’t seen yet. One really must take their time to absorb everything this splendid city can offer.

Road to the harbour

Ayvalik – sea, sun, and olives

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Ayvalik seaside promenade

I have become quite a fan of olives and olive oil in recent years since I got the taste of Turkish olives. Now they accompany virtually every breakfast I have in Turkey.

I reminisce about my latest trip to Ayvalik in early October, barely a month ago. Driving through the silver-coloured olive groves, expanding over rolling hills and meadows right up to the seashores, we arrived at the small town of Ayvalik. Its lovely seaside promenade alongside small firshermen’s boats and wooden holiday sailing yachts, moored at the bay, gently swaying in turquoise waters. The popular promenade is lined with cafes and restaurants, small shops and cake and tea houses.

We ventured further from the seaside, climbed up the hill, explored narrow streets with old wooden and stone houses, art galleries, boutique hotels, shops, eateries, homes. There is a beautiful mixture of both Greek and Turkish architecture. Many houses are lovingly restored, many still waiting for restoration. For some reason, I tend to get especially excited to see old dilapidated buildings, still bearing the aura of the bygone days, who knows what kind of stories they could tell, teetering near collapse, but still keeping upright as if to defy the gravity. At the same time I am delighted to see the houses which have actually been restored, painted in bright fresh colours, looking pretty and cheerful.

A cake shop

A small grocery store

Cafes and tea houses along the streets

Taksiyarhis Church

Taksiyarhis Church

Taksiyarhis Church, now museum

Tolun insisted we climb up the hill where he wanted to show me something. After several unsuccessful attempts at getting the right direction from google maps, he just followed his instinct and we arrived quite near the top of the hill at a lovely old Greek church, now a museum. Taksiyarhis church was the first church of Ayvalik. We rested on the bench in the spacious courtyard with tall and broad leafy trees (Mulberry or plane trees maybe) and took a look inside the small, quiet, colourfully decorated church, originating from the 15th century, later modified. We were the only visitors and it was nice to sit there, cool down from the heat outside and admire the beautiful artwork. Back outside, we walked downwards again, passing several mosques nearby which showed more sign of life, as it is nowadays predominantly Turkish (Muslim) town.

What to do

While strolling, the locals, sitting at the street cafes, drinking glasses of tea, playing backgammon or cards,  were eyeing us curiously. We didn’t look like locals, and they must have been wondering what the tourists were doing there off season. Ayvalik is known as a popular holiday resort, the usual 30 000 or so population grows considerably during
the summer months. It is mainly popular with Turkish city dwellers from cities like Istanbul, Izmir, who prefer to stay in small boutique hotels or rent a room or small apartment in the town.
There are daily boat trips to large Greek island of Lesbos which is rich in Antique history just as the whole Aegean area. Troy, Pergamon, Mount Ida, are few of the famous places from Antique Greek times which are within a short driving distance from Ayvalik. There is also a nearly 30 kilometres long sandy beach nearby but I have yet to explore the Ayvalik side of it. I have, however, visited the small island of Cunda.

Cunda island

Cunda

One summer day Tolun offered to take me to some quiet spot for swimming. He loaded his bike in the van and off we went. We drove to Ayvalik and from there, crossed the bridge and  landed in Cunda. Then we passed through the main street where I couldn’t resist stepping into an antique shop, filled with probably Ottoman as well as post-Ottoman furnishings and porcelain.

We continued past the buildings and drove along the dirt track through olive groves, extending right up to the sea. The road eventually became too narrow for the van. We stopped the car and got on the bike. Well, Tolun was riding the bike, while I preferred walking to getting bruised on the back of the bike on a very bumpy road. We glimpsed the sea past the olive trees and walked right towards it. Eventually the trees ended at the gravelly and grassy patch, and the turquoise waters began. There was no one to be seen except the holiday sailing boat in the distance. The waters were shallow at the shore, we walked deeper and deeper, and the water remained as transparent as at the shallow end. What a delight to cool off in the refreshing crystal clear sea, gently waving and glistening in the sunshine. It felt so far from civilization, yet so near as we knew the town was a mere minutes drive away…

Olives

But back to olives. Ayvalik and its surroundings are known for high quality olives and as an olive oil producing area. We, too, stopped at one small shop and bought a bottle of locally made superior quality olive oil. We also sat at the spacious red brick walled cafe, converted from the old olive oil factory, the chimney still intact. So it is not surprising that you can buy many olive based products here, including soaps and beauty products etc. In Turkey generally, it is usual to see many varieties of differently prepared olives in grocery stores, supermarkets, bazaars. To me, they all taste great, but Turks themselves make the differerence between good and not so good olives. And what better place than Ayvalik to be acquainted with some great quality olives and everything else that can be produced from it!

Pleasure boats