Ephesus and Izmir

To Ephesus Sept 22

It was a long but interesting drive from Pammukale to Ephesus. We drove across a verdant valley, seeing many fruit orchards on a great 4 lane divided highway.

We saw field workers busy picking crops. One man was cultivating his field by means of walking behind his horse which was pulling a plow. Something out of our past but current in this country.

So many orchards of citrus and olives. Lots of drying racks for fruits and vegetables like figs, grapes, peppers and tomatoes.

We also see stork nests, high atop the hydro towers.

We pass through the city of Audin. Noted that factories of Benneton and Levi are here. The plains of Audin is the heavy cotton growing area.

Also the best figs of Turkey are grown here.

This is ancient Ionia land.

We are heading toward Ephesus, an important city of several civilizations. There were actually 4 cities of Ephesus built on top of each other, or nearby. At one time it was a harbour city but that changed and earthquakes and floods changed the landscape.

The 3rd Ephesus ruin is from the times of Alexander the Great – it was the center of the province of Asia Minor.

Church history says that Mary (mother of Jesus) is likely buried here, the apostle John is buried here and Byzantine remains are over his actually burial place. Paul also visited here twice. There was an early church here dedicated to Mary.

For me it was a poorly put together attempt at reconstructing old ruins. It did cover a large area and there were enough places and pillars that let you know somewhat of what the buildings were for. There was a small arena and a lovely walkway of old mosaics. At the bottom of the hillside walk were the remains of what must have been a beautiful library. It was definitely the highlight.

I had expected to see more of Biblical times but of course those people were really small 'peanuts' in this vast area. There was a time when Christianity reigned in this area but the building of ornamented buildings, etc. was not high on their priority, at least for early christians.

Ephesus, at one time, was one of the seven wonders of the world. We spent 2 hours viewing.


Next stop. Leather factory. We were again welcomed and given a lesson on what material they used (sheep and/or lamb), one leather was lamb skin shaved to the finest skin and it was called lamb silk. Subsequently we were taken to a sitting room where we were offered something to drink, and then watched a live fashion show. Very well done and enjoyed by all.

After that we were invited to their store where we could try on, check out, find a jacket or purse or something leather that was perfect for us. They definitely had styles that were the latest in fashion and the very finest quality leathers.


Izmir September 22

Izmir is the 3rd biggest city in Turkey. In ancient times it was called Smyrna, another city that the apostle John wrote to in the book of Revelation.

Alexander the Great had his dream here of becoming ruler of all Asia. And so that spurred him on to try and conquer all of Asia.

The final battle between the Turks and Greek in their last war was fought here.

We stayed in a 3 star hotel in this city. It wasn't in the best area of town so we invited Marg and Dave over for a card golf game. Hadn't played for weeks and we were all brain dead but enjoyed the evening.