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Sea: Flat as a pancake
Weather: Hot – High 30s
Another full on day of excursions today and more ancient history to absorb. We were visiting Miletus, Didyma and Ephesus for another day of immersing ourselves in ancient history.
Another early start and we were a little surprised to see the buffet was busier than yesterday – guess a lot of people have booked excursions. We were still able to find a table, grab a bite to eat before heading down to Deck 4 to disembark and find our tour guide. We were on bus 7 along with the couple from Hull and their daughter and another couple from yesterday. Our Guide (he didn’t tell us his name) was on a mission to get to the other places ahead of the other three coaches doing this tour!
Didyma and Miletus were to the south of the port so we were visiting these first before heading back into Kuşadası for lunch then onto the highlight of today, Ephesus.
Didyma was around an hours drive away; an ancient Greek sanctuary that used to be on the coast of lonia. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called Didymaion. It was home to both of the temples dedicated to the twins Apollo and Artemis.
From here it was the 30 mins drive to Didyma to see the Temple of Apollo … twin of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. This was a more intact Temple at Didyma (at Ephesus, just the foundations remained).
It was an impressive site to explore. The footprint of the temple was huge and broken columns rose up from the floor. The broken parts were left lieing on the ground. The columns tops had been ornately carved and you could see how the columns were built by stacking stone “disks” on top of each other.
The guide walked us through the site, pointing out interesting things to see and a little more about the history of the place. After this, we had about 30 minutes or so to wander around by ourselves. It wasn’t even 9.30am and the temperature was quickly rising.
Miletus about 30 minutes drive from Didyma, heading back towards Kuşadası. the main sight here was the ancient theatre. A shame there wasn’t more time to explore the site. The theatre was first built in the 4th century BC following the hill’s curvature and it could accommodate 5,300 spectators.
In the 1st century AD the Romans added the enormous vaulted entrance/exit ways on either side of the stage and upper galleries which expanded the theatre’s capacity to 15,000 spectators and it was one of the largest theatres in Asia Minor.
In the 11th century AD, during the Byzantine era, the Miletus theatre was incorporated into a fortress and defensive wall. The top seating rows were removed and the stone blocks used for the fortress. Houses and a small chapel were built into the theatre’s cavea. The remains of the Byzantine fortress are behind the current top row of seats. The area was badly damaged by earthquakes and eventually abandoned circa 1415.
Across the site, blocks are strewn along the length of the path leading to the theatre – it looked as though the site had been hit by an earthquake more recently. A quick stop at the museum (very small) which most wanting to use the loos. Initially there was queue for the ladies … until they discovered it was the hole-in-the-floor type!
A 60 mins drive back to Kuşadası. Lunch was at the 5 star Hotel Charisma overlooking the harbour. It was a buffet lunch and help yourself. Plenty of choice and the food was really good.
After lunch, it was just a 20 mins drive to Ephesus .. the guide pointed out where the Temple of Artemis was as we passed but we didn’t stop. He also pointed out what looked like a Fort on top of a hill. This is where the lighthouse at Ephesus was located before it was destroyed.
The site was incredible – it has to be one of the best preserved ancient cities in Europe, if not the World. We were dropped off at one entrance and our guide would walk us through the site and pick the bus up at the other end. The sites got better and more intriguing the further you wandered into the site.
The site is huge. A real shame it was all a little rushed and little time to take it all in. Sadly, the terrace houses weren’t included on this tour. If we ever come back, it would be good to spend a more time here and explore more of the site.
It’s hard to believe that as much as 80% of Ephesus is undiscovered. While the main streets and many highlights have been discovered, so much more of the city remains buried.
All too soon, we were back on the coach heading back to the ship. We declined going to the rug making demonstration at the end and walked back to the ship … via the rat run of vendors. Callum was bemused by them saying come and get your fake genuine Rolex’s!!
We found a seat at the terrace bar for sailaway – we sailed past a couple of islands and not long before we hit open water.
We ate in the main dining room again tonight. Callum and I had Calamari and the Rump of Lamb, whilst Jon had the Tomato Soup and Fish & Chips. For pudding, Callum was tempted by the Marquis of Chocolate whilst Jon & I had our usual cheese plate.
Afterwards, we headed up to the Planet Bar for a nightcap. It was busy but as there was a steady stream of people coming and going, there were plenty of seats free. An early night called. We’d had two days of very early starts and they were catching up with us.
