 The visit to Ephesus was a very big excursion!
Our first stop was the golden statue of the Virgin Mary on the hillside leading to her house, The statue was the gift of an American Society.
We visited the remains of the ancient city of Ephesus and saw the basilica and the tomb of St John the Apostle who came to live here with Mary, Jesus' mother and probably wrote his gospel here. We also saw the Chapel dedicated to her.
The Basilica of St John was built over the remains of a first century AD temple around 530 AD by Emperor Justinian, who was also building Hagia Sophia and the water cistern at Istanbul at the time.
Just outside the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey is a small chapel, venerated as the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus. The Virgin Mary's house is a 6th or 7th century AD reconstruction on top of 1st century AD foundations which are marked on the side of the building with a red line.
 On the approach to the chapel you pass a statue of her.
The first ever church to the Virgin Mary was built in this region, at a time when church dedications were only made to those who had lived locally. Jesus, whilst on the Cross, entrusted the care of his mother to St John the Apostle and the tomb of St John is also in this region as are several stories of his activities here.
In 1812 a German nun, Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, who was an invalid and who had never travelled away from her home, had a vision of Mary's journey with John and of her home which she described in detail, her description being written down word for word by the writer Brentano. During the visions Catherine developed the marks of the stigmata - the 5 wounds of Christ.
Years later a French clergyman read the account and travelled to Ephesus in search of the house and found this chapel, an exact match for the description. He wrote to Rome but there was not much of a response.
In 1891 however more clergy and Catholic officials visited the site. From the following year it became a place of pilgrimage and was restored in 1897. The chapel is believed to have been built in the 6th or 7th century but on foundations of the 1st century, which are still visible and marked with a red line. The site has been visited by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass there.
So the place is the subject of pilgrimage to many Catholics.
The spring that runs under the house (also included in Catherine's visions) is accessible today through three openings, said to give health, love and wealth. I suspect they may bring more spiritual wealth than monetary... Once fed directly into a basin from a spring on the hillside, this now feeds taps so as not to allow the water to stand and stagnate.
Ephesus was an ancient city even when the Romans came and virtually totally rebuilt it. It housed the Roman world's third largest library and is so well documented that we know the names of its streets. It is a massive site and the tour guide was very informative. It took well over an hour to walk though the city.
This is Curetes Street and it leads downhill towards the Library of Celcus and the great theatre of Ephesus.
It was lined with shops and temples. It made us smile to hear a teenage girl look at the ruins in disgust and say, 'Where are the shops? I thought there would be real shops!'.
This is the Gate of Hercules. On the left hand pillar he is pictured holding the head of the Nemean lion. No ordinary lion, it's fur could stop any sword and its claws could cut through armour. Hercules kills it as told in the legend of the First Labour of Hercules. Stunning it with a blow from his club, he strangled it with his bare hands then skinned it, using one of its own claws - his knife unable to pierce the pelt which he later wore as his armour. In fact there actually once did exist a sub-species of lion that lived in south eastern Europe!
This mosaic floor shows how well preserved some of the remains are. Whilst the structures have had to be recreated using fallen stone, this flooring is virtually intact.
This is the Temple of Hadrian - the same Hadrian who had the wall built across the north of Britain - deification of emporors was common...
The Library of Celcus was the third biggest library of the Roman world after Rome itself and Constantinople. It contained over 12,000 scrolls. The impressive but reconstructed front of the Library faced East so that the reading rooms were lit by the morning sun.
Directly opposite this was the city's brothel - handy I suppose after a hard day's research.
By turning right and walking down Marble Street you arrive at the magnificent theatre.
Seating 24,000 spectators, it was the site of sermons by both Apostles St John and St Paul and was the site of the Riot of the Silversmiths, described in the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. Marble is a slippery surface to walk on - you need to take care!
Leading between the theatre and the harbour (which has silted up - the sea is now 6 miles away) is the Arcadian Way or Harbour Street.
It is an 11-metre wide thoroughfare along which many notables of the time must have walked or ridden - Mark Anthony and Cleopatra walked hand in hand down this road.
Ayasuluk Hill is an ancient mound in İzmir Province in Turkey. It forms part of the Ephesus UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is home to a Byzantine fortress and the ruins of the Basilica of St John. It is reputedly the tomb of John the Apostle, the cousin and early disciple of Jesus who is thought to have written the Gospel of John on the site. |
Ottoman Treasures
