Ephesus & Bergama: The Ancient Cities

After Istanbul, we went to Izmir, a good location close to both Ephesus and Bergama. More about Izmir later, Ephesus & Bergama are the good stuff.

Ephesus

Ephesus is a city that goes way back in history – It’s been inhabited since 6,000 BC, and was more recently a Greek city and Roman city. It was the secondary capital of the Roman Empire and the 2nd-most populated city in the Empire (and in the world) in the 1st Century BC. Most of the buildings and ruins that we visited and read about were built between 100 BC and 400 AD. It is a city with great historical and religious significance. Anyone heard of the Letters of Paul to the Ephesians? That’s the Ephesus… He lived there from 52 to 54 AD, and was imprisoned there for a little bit. Also, it is believed that Mary went to live in Ephesus after the death of Jesus, and “Mary’s house” is just outside the city – a small stone house, a very popular and expensive tourist draw. However, the house dates back to the 6th-7th Century AD. We did not visit the house; however, it is plausible that Mary lived in Ephesus in the later part of her life.

Now for the things we did see… The city is huge, it took us all day to walk through it. What’s amazing is that only 15% of the city has been excavated.

The Church of Mary:

The church was built around 400 AD. The First and Second Councils of Ephesus were held in this church (in 431 and 449 AD).
It is a huge structure with columns, archways, and some intact features like Latin-carved stones and a baptismal fount.

The Roman Road:
This is the main road that led into Ephesus. It’s extremely impressive, paved in marble, with ornate columns lining the road. Of religious significance, statues of the 4 gospel writers used to stand on tall columns on either side of the road.

The Amphitheater: So, this is where it all went down – St. Paul made a famous speech here, telling the Ephesian citizens to abandon their Greek gods and convert to Christianity. This incited a riot, and he left the city soon after. Later (during Constantine’s rule), the city converted to Christianity with the Roman Empire. The amphitheater was built around 200 BC and was enlarged and renovated until about 400 AD. It held 25,000 people.

Library of Celsus:
This is the piece de resistance. It was built in 125 AD and held 12,000 scrolls. It faces east so that morning light would filter into the reading rooms. Here are a couple of pictures of the detail:

The “main street”
This is the main street where the homes and businesses were located – another original Roman marble-paved street.

Gates at the road:

A few temples, shops, and houses along the street:

A mosaic floor!

There is a much smaller (but still impressive) amphitheater at the other end of the city:

Bergama (Pergamon)

We never would have heard of, or thought to go to Bergama, had we not been the The Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The entire museum in Berlin was built with the sole purpose of displaying the stolen (er, relocated) remains of the “Alter of Zeus”. (And it now houses many rooms of other “relocated” treasures from all over the world.) We were so impressed at the museum in Berlin that we put a new travel destination on the list: Bergama.

Unlike Ephesus, Bergama is still a bustling, working/living town. There is one area that hasn’t been rebuilt, and that is the “public” legislative area of the city called The Pergamon. This is where the ruins are all located.

The Red Basilica
At the base of the big hill is The Red Basilica. It was built in the 2nd Century AD for the worship of Egyption gods (popular in the Roman Empire at the time). The Church of St. John the Apostle was built within the walls during the Byzantine Empire, and now a mosque is within the large tower.

The Amphitheater
No Roman town would be complete without an amphitheater… This is Bergama’s. It was constructed in the 3rd Century BC and could hold 10,000 people. It is much steeper than any other we have seen, as it was built into the side of a hill.

The Temple of Trajan:

Archways under the temple:
These archways form the foundation of the temple.

And when you looked out to the side, there was a steep hillside and view of the town in the distance:

And… finally – this is the former site of the Alter of Zeus:

Here’s the Alter of Zeus, which, unfortunately, now sits in Berlin. The sheer size, and the amount of detail in the carving are incredible.

Izmir:

A few words about Izmir, the city where we stayed for a few nights in order to do these long day trips. It is a very large city, and definitely Way off the tourist track. It’s a loud city, with loud traffic, loud people, and pungent pollution. In the city, Vince and I were the only (obviously) non-Turks we ever saw (We did see other non-Turks on the buses to the other cities, but never in Izmir), so it offered an experience which was probably very… authentic. One day, we stumbled upon the Sunday markets – it was really crowded for blocks & blocks.

The waterfront was pretty and there was a small clock tower:

There wasn’t much else to do there (and I was in dire need of hearing someone else speak English), so we went to see “Eat Pray Love”. Not nearly as good as the book (as always), but entertaining.