Free Day!
Today Professor Shields decided to give us a free day. However, with all of the sites and point of interest Ephesus had to offer we had to create a schedule that only the gods could finish in one day. We decided to visit the Virgin Mary's house, Ephesus--the ancient city/ruins, an archaeological museum, lunch with a friend, swimming in the Aegean Sea, and a small Grecian village up in the mountains. Our first stop was the house of Virgin Mary, the home where she took in her last breath. Peace be with her. Here's a photo of her peaceful residence.
After the Virgin Mary's house we went to see the remains of Ephesus. The city was spectacular! At the time of its peak, Ephesus was housing 250,000 people. The ruins were also in great condition, especially when compared to Troy. There were homes, brothels, libraries, theaters, baths, and various other remnants of a booming city. Here is a photo of the facade of the library.
Our next stop, for me, was underwhelming compared to all of the other museums we have visited. It had a small collection of items; however, it did have one particularly interesting exhibit. The exhibit consisted of numerous diagrams, identical to the one shown below, of the numerous ways people were killed in battle. In this particular case, a trident pierces the victim's skull causing instantaneous death--quite morbid.
After the museum we had lunch with one of Emily's, rather wealthy, family friends. Lunch was delightful. After lunch we eagerly changed and drove to the Aegean Sea. This would be our first time in a body of water, except for the hamam and various other methods of bathing, since our arrival in Turkey.
After the Virgin Mary's house we went to see the remains of Ephesus. The city was spectacular! At the time of its peak, Ephesus was housing 250,000 people. The ruins were also in great condition, especially when compared to Troy. There were homes, brothels, libraries, theaters, baths, and various other remnants of a booming city. Here is a photo of the facade of the library.
Quite a large library, eh?
P.S. the skull displayed is one they uncovered. They used bottom-up processes to recreate the diagrams: find wounded bone, find causal weapon, and draw diagram of death.
After the museum we had lunch with one of Emily's, rather wealthy, family friends. Lunch was delightful. After lunch we eagerly changed and drove to the Aegean Sea. This would be our first time in a body of water, except for the hamam and various other methods of bathing, since our arrival in Turkey.You may notice that I'm in an awkward stance. That's due to my lack of sandals and the abundant amount of thistles under my feet. After this picture was taken I ended up with 20+ thistles per foot. I definitely took one for the team.
After a refreshing dip in the Aegean, we headed off to the mountains for the evening. Sirince (she-reen-jay), supposedly a Greek city with 600 inhabitants, rests in the valley. This peaceful village is known for its assortment of wines, peaches and olive oil. During lunch one of the ladies told us that the residents of Sirince have been traced to be the last descendants of the Ephesians. The validity of this statement is still questioned. After buying a couple bottles of wine, an assortment of bed spreads and table settings we finally found a place to wine and dine just like the Greeks.
Beautiful sunset + beautiful city + beautiful wine = marvelous end to a beautiful day
0 comments:
Post a Comment