Daily Archives: July 3, 2014

Kusadasi

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Kusadasi is a small city on the coast close to Ephesus.  If you are visiting Ephesus, I advise to stay in Selcuk; it’s much nicer and cheaper.  However, if you are arriving or departing by ferry or cruise ship, you will end up in Kusadasi.

There are some very large ships in the port.  I went down to get a ferry ticket to Greece and see Pidgeon Island, which is nice for a stroll, but it’s nothing too exciting.
There are many many shops around the ferry terminal, so if you like to be harassed by shopkeepers then this is a good place to stroll around!  In all seriousness I’ve been told you can get good bargains here, but I just can’t stand shopping when some guy is trying to sell me everything in the store at a “good price”.  I’ve ran out of ways to say “No, I don’t want to buy your Turkish carpet” 🙂

Ephesus

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One of Turkey’s biggest attractions is Ephesus which is an ancient city that is still being unearthed by archaeologists.  The city was built by the Greeks, so you can see a lot of Greek architecture in the buildings.

One of the buildings that is left standing is a huge theatre.  The acustics are great inside and as you enter you often here people practicing their singing voice; some are better than others!
You can see dig sites and people working all around.  It’s a large tourist attraction, but I felt it was big enough that you didn’t feel like there was too much of a crowd.
You can see the ruins of a large library, that is said to be one of the biggest that the Greeks built.  It was supposedly connected by an underground passage to a brothal so they men could sneak across unnoticed by their wives!
You can see the brothal (at least the ruins) and a footprint and a arrow in the cement which is apparently the first advertisement in the world (I’m somewhat sceptical on that one).
The site needs 2 hours of so and it’s very hot, so bring plenty of water and sunscreen as there is little shade.
Up the road is the church of Mary.  It is said that Mary spent the last years of her life living here and died in this area.  There is a mass there that you can attend, or you can join the masses of tourists walking through the small church taking pictures!  It’s a unique site and worth a look.
Between the two sights is a large statue of Mary beside the road.