You know, I realise that ruins appeal to me quite a bit. There’s just something about looking at broken, dilapidated and forsaken structures. Not forsaken in the absolute sense, taking into consideration the fact that people do maintain these sites, but more like forsaken as in taking care of whatever’s remained. It takes quite some skill and effort to maintain these heritage sites in their ‘broken’ states and sometimes I just wonder wouldn’t it be awesome if someone just pumped in the money to restore an entire city or building to their past glory. Now that’s something I’ll keep my eyes open for.
Anyway, the tour started in the nearby town of Selçuk and I got to meet some interesting people: two Japanese ladies in their mid-30s and a couple (more like platonic friends) from London. They were cool people who were touring the highlights of Turkey and who were also going on to visit other countries in the region. Man, I have to come back to Turkey because I missed Pamukkale and Cappadocia. So, if you plan to visit Turkey, please include them in your itinerary!
The first stop was the ancient city of Ephesus. Before that, just a couple of observations I want to highlight first: (i) the souvenir shops in this area are not too subtle about disclosing the origin of their goods since a paradoxical sign read ‘Genuine Fake Watches’ (honesty is a virtue I guess); (ii) there are millions of stray cats roaming the streets of Turkey (be it Istanbul or Selçuk or even Ephesus (the closest thing you get to a scrap of food in this ruined city is probably a rock) but no signs of any stray dogs. Strange but true.
Right, Ephesus. An ancient Greek city that used to be sitting next to the coast but now a barren ground with the receding sea line about 5 kilometres away. This city also proudly owned the Library of Celsius, the third best library in ancient Greek civilisation (first was the Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt and second was the Library of Pergamum in Pergamum, Turkey). However, it is probably most famous as a biblical city where both Apostles John and Paul had visited and it was this very city that Paul had written his epistle to: Ephesians, the tenth book of the New Testament. Is this cool or what?
The ruins of Ephesus, in my opinion, is very well-conserved, probably one of the best I’ve seen in my life. A hint of how people lived and went about with their daily chores just reflects off the buildings, the cobblestones and even in the very atmosphere of the place. I suspect it would have been one of the places to be during that time. And I’m glad I was on a guided tour because it was like attending lectures on local history and architecture. Let’s just say that I can now differentiate and name the different designs of columns used during that time. And did you know that Nike, the sports company, had its name derived from the Greek Goddess of Victory with the same name? And can you see the resemblance of a tick in the Goddess herself below? Amazing. We learn something new every day.
Then there is the Library of Celsius itself. A very grand building and thanks to the wonders of modern restoration efforts, we can now see it standing, in all its majesty, like how we would then (not exactly but close I would imagine). Legend has it that there was a secret passage linking the library to the building opposite where many a learned man would escape to from the disciplined confines of the pursuit of knowledge. That building was a brothel. Well, I guess men never change and at least these learned men will be good anatomists. Hopefully. The other mega-structure in the city is the Antic Theatre, a semi-circular open-air concert venue that is able to host 20,000 people. The numerous rows of seats are cut into the mountain with the stage at its foot. So the further you are from the stage, the higher you go. I’m sure people queued for tickets at that time as well since those sitting in the back row would end up climbing a mountain. On top of that, they’ll also end up watching ants perform. Not too great in my opinion.
Lunch was at a tour-group oriented restaurant smacked in the middle of nowhere. Food was good though, so nothing to complain about. However, there was then the bane of all existence: the imminent visit to a local products factory outlet (leather clothing but nothing kinky). It was too unremarkable to recall so I’ll just skip it.
We visited the House of Virgin Mary next which is located near the top of a nearby mountain, not too far from Ephesus. This is a place where many pilgrims visit and it really exudes peace and serenity. I felt so humbled being in this place and there would really be no problems at all if I had to spend the rest of my life here. There was a small chapel that was once believed to be the very house that the Virgin Mary resided in after the Ascension of Jesus. Apart from an altar and displays showcasing the gifts from three visiting Popes in the past, there was also a simple, yet heart-warming model of the nativity tucked at a corner next to the altar. Another interesting thing just outside the chapel is a wishing wall, where people would write a wish and just tie it to the strings hanging from the wall. It is amazing how many different messages there are, be it new or weather-worn. There were probably tens of thousands. And it is also amazing how desperate people can be to have their wish come true, or rather, to join in on the novelty of the idea: amongst the small paper scrolls, there were also messages written on leaves, the back of ticket stubs and I even spotted a Singapore Airlines luggage tag. Then again, I did also participate in the frenzy and left my wish there too (on good old mini-notebook paper).
And the final stop of the day was the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Let me give you a brief idea of what I remembered as first impressions.
Tour guide: Alright my friends, we are at the Great Temple of Artemis!
Everyone: Hurray!
Everyone: ~pause~
Everyone: Aren’t we going to walk further in to see the temple?
Tour guide: What do you mean? The temple’s right over here.
Everyone: What? You mean that column over there?
Tour guide: Yup. What were you expecting?
To be fair, it was quite an amazing column. It was at least 4-storeys high and composed of dissociated fragments (thanks to reconstruction again). Apart from that, I must say that I was disappointed but I guess I’m just slapping myself in the face since I didn’t really do proper research. Had it been still standing though, the Temple of Artemis would have been a gigantic temple with over a hundred of those massive columns supporting its roof. It isn’t called a wonder for nothing you know. But as history has it, it got burned down in an act of arson by a Herostratus, whose sole motivation was the quest for fame (or more aptly in this case, infamy). The punch-line though, was that at that very same night, Alexander the Great was born and people actually believed that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to actually save her burning temple. Denial is a strange strange thing. Over the years, the temple was then reconstructed, and soon razed to the ground again, and then rebuilt again, and then pulled down again, and so and so forth. In its final destruction, no reconstruction was planned as most of the people have converted to Christianity. Instead, in the spirit of recycling, some of the stones were used in the construction of other buildings throughout the area and included the Hagia Sophia all the way in Constantinople. If only UNESCO existed then.
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