The ancient city of Ephesus, or rather the kit to rebuild it, lies on a hillside about 10 miles from Kusadasi. The city was comprehensively trashed by rampaging Persian hordes in the 5th Century BC. (check in Wikipedia) Archaeologists have been sticking fragments of it back together for over 100 years and when they can't find the right bit they just use a block of concrete which works surprisingly well. They haven't got very far, but there's just enough there to allow you visualise what the city must have looked like. The magic of Ephesus is that you can see all the working parts of a city dating back over 2000 years.
There are government buildings and communal toilets and bath houses with warm air heating. Paved roads with underground sewers and water pipes. (Some roads even had street lighting.) Lots of gates, fountains, monuments and a 25,000 seat amphitheatre with a channel for the blood, or it may just have been drainage. There is even a brothel with an underground tunnel to the public library. Library services were far more comprehensive in those days.
Our visit lasted two hours and we arrived 15 minutes early so they could sell us the opportunity to go the toilet. Inside the site, it felt like it must have done on the day the city fell. The rampaging Persian hordes were played by the thousands of passengers from the four cruise ships that were parked up in Kusadasi harbour. It's time that, as well as listing “World Heritage” sites, the United Nations publishes a “Destroyed by Tourism” listing with a logo that has to be prominently displayed in places of maximum greed. Ephesus now even beats Venice on my own draft list.
If you've never been to Ephesus I still think that it's a place you ought to see. If, like us you have seen it before, in quieter times, stay well away from the hell hole it now is and rely on your memories.
Postscript
The more observant blog followers will have noticed that we've not been posting any photographs. I've got a nasty technical problem with my laptop that I could fix if I had a decent fast internet connection. Unfortunate the internet on board is about as fast as a walk down the main street in Ephesus. Some of you will be worrying that we will now have to show you our holiday pictures when we get home but – worry not. Our camera was nicked in Ephesus - I hope that hasn't coloured my view of the place.
Dave
Boo hoo, no photos ! That means no dolphins jumping onto the balcony ?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the camera, that's very annoying. Feels like you have been away for ages already and still nearly another two weeks to go !