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My next goal was a visit to the Roman ruins of Ephesus. I had the choice of staying in Selçuk which is inland, or Kusadasi on the coast which, according to my guide book, ballooned with tourists in summer like Marmaris and, moreover, was also a prime cruise ship destination.
Naturally I chose Selçuk and that turned out to be a good choice. Being very close to Ephesus, Selçuk has been transformed by the boom from a quiet agricultural centre to a tourist town (within bearable limits in the winter).
Besides the nearby ruins, it also offers this 6th century Byzantine citadel, rebuilt by the Seljuks and restored since which was closed when I was there.
Selçuk also has a small but nice museum and ruins of the St John's Basilica erected by Justinian in the 6th century over a tomb said to be that of St-John the apostle. There is not much left to see nowadays...
Ephesus is only a short bus ride away. At the top of Curetes Way we find the Gate of Hercules, built in the 4th century.
Ephesus began in 800 BC when the Phrygians erected a temple to their goddess of fertility Cybele, later identified as Artemis by the Greek and eventually as Diana by the Romans. At that time, the sea came inland all the way to the bottom of this hill where a busy port prospered until it was destroyed by Croesus of Lydia around 600 BC. Ephesians were vassals of Lydia, then of Persia, they joined the Athenian confederacy but later fell back under Persian control.
Curetes way runs downhill from the upper town towards the harbour which is now dry.
After the temple was destroyed by fire in 356 BC it was rebuilt in such a grand manner that it was recognised as one of the seven wonders of the world. Ephesus was dominated successively by Alexander, by the Seleucids of Syria, by the Ptolemies of Egypt and finally by the Romans who made it their capital of Asia Minor. Legend has it that St John retired here with the Virgin Mary, followed by St-Paul.
The prosperous metropolis of Ephesus with its 200 000 inhabitants lost its wealth when its harbour silted up in spite of all efforts made to save it.
Trajan who extended the Roman Empire to the Danube, to Mesopotamia and Arabia had this fountain built at the turn of the first century AD.
Here, the entrance of the baths of Scholastika on Curetes Way.
And close by the men's latrines where the well endowed statue of Priapus was found.
Still along Curetes Way, this tetrapylon gate was built in honour of Hadrian, successor of Trajan, who tried to save Ephesus from its fate by diverting the Cayster.
The Sacred Way, coming from the amphitheatre through the gate of Augustus on the right, meets Curetes Way here at Embolos in front of the elegant 2nd century Library of Celsus that has become the trademark of Ephesus.
And finally, the impressive great theatre seating 25 000 people built in the flank of Mount Pion between 41 and 117 AD to replace an earlier Greek theatre.
From here, I took a dolmus to Izmir where I stopped only long enough to hop on a bus for Bursa on my way to Istanbul.
So, I did not visit Izmir nor the Dardanelles and Troy but, after all, I have to leave something to visit for next time!
More than seven hours later, I got off the city bus near Ulu Camii and took a room in the nearby Hotel Günes in the Inebey district. I did not like it so I moved the next day to the blue Camlibet Hotel you can see up the street. It was cleaner and had an elevator so I didn't have to climb stairs with my bad knee. I tried the Inebey hammam next door and found it OK to wash but not hot enough to enjoy.
The huge Seljuk style, 1396, Ulu Camii was just across Ataturk Caddesi from my hotel so the first thing I did the next day was to visit it. It differs from other mosques in having its sadirvan inside in the centre instead of outside (fountain where Muslims wash their feet, hands, face and mouth before praying).
Below left, Ulu Camii's minaret and below right, its holy mihrab.
Outside, the cobbled and shop lined Ulu Camii Caddesi leads to the Bedesten (covered market).
The Bedesten, originally built in the 14th century was completely reconstructed after being destroyed by an earthquake in 1855.
Hans or caravanserails are found all over the Middle East and Central Asia. They are enclosures with a large courtyard surrounded by shops and accommodations where caravans could trade and spend the night safely .
The small Emir Han looks prim and proper now with its nice little fountain but just imagine what it must have been like centuries ago with a hundred camels sitting in their dung surrounded by piles of baled goods and two dozen scruffy merchants haggling loudly over the price of silk.
A short way down Capali Carsi Caddesi is the much larger Hoza Han, built in 1451. It also specialises in silk but today the cocoons are brought in by truck, not camels.
Bales of silk cocoons are traded in June and September around this small mosque in the centre of Hoza Han.
Further east is this lovely square adjacent to the Orhan Gazi Camii.
And of course, as you should expect, here are some pictures of Bursa's colourful market.
The merchants were friendly even when it was obvious I wasn't buying anything!
In this section of the market, customers could judge how fresh the fish were by the colour of their exposed gills.
These two fellows had a great assortment of cheeses of which they offered me slivers to taste. Their aged, sharp cheese was excellent so I bought from them and came back for more. Their dried pasturma meat was also great. I like to eat in market food stalls to sample local products. It's inexpensive, generally good, and always interesting.
I preferred Bursa to the tourist oriented resort towns on the coast.
From Bursa, I took a bus to Yalova, on the Sea of Marmara, where I boarded the Irfan Sezgin ferry for Istanbul.
