Ephesus & Miletos & Didyma

After your cruise docked to Kusadasi port, on your meeting time, your guide will be waiting you in the arrival guest terminal with a sign that your booking name indicated. After he/she welcomes you and after getting on your private van, your unforgetable day in Turkey stop starts.

First of all you follow the way to Soke town for your first visit where the Ancient City of Miletos exixts. After 30 minutes driving, the big impressive grand theater of the city welcomes you with all its glory and your magical experience engulfing you through a history starts…

Once the city of famous philosophers in history such as; Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, all philosophers of nature and the universe; the historian and geographer Hekataios, who first used the word “history” in its modern sense; and Isidorus, one of the designers of the Hagia Sophia.

Excavations in Miletus started by French archaeologists in 1868, while significant research has been carried out since 1899 under the auspices of the German Archaeological Institute.

Miletus was one of the most important city of Ionia. St. Paul stopped at Miletus on his Third Missionary Journey, on his way back to Jerusalem. (Acts 20:16-38) He was on his way back to Jerusalem, and in a hurry because he wanted to reach the holy city by the day of Pentecost. Coming from Troas, he bypassed Ephesus but paused at Miletus and called for the elders of Ephesus to come meet him there.

Miletus was located on the coast at the mouth of the River Meander with four harbors. The strategic location on the west coast of Asia Minor made it a major player in the commerce of the ancient world. It was also continuously captured by lots of different invaders. But eventually, Miletus met its fate not at the hands of foreign powers but the gentle Meander River, which silted up the ports of the city over the centuries and made the city to become an inland with its location.

Miletus was first occupied in 1400 BC by Minoans from Crete, then Mycenaeans from the Peloponnese, then by refugees from Greece who were the Ionian trying to escape from the Dorian invasions. Miletus became the most important of the 12 cities of Ionia, and was one of the first cities in the ancient world to mint coins. It was mentioned by Homer in The Iliad (II.868).

After learning about the important history about Miletus, first impressive building from the city left that you are going to be meeting will be the big grand theater which was originally built in the 4th century BC, but modified and enlarged under Emperor Trajan in the 2nd century AD to seat 20,000 -25,000 spectators. Also added in the Roman period was a third floor to the stage building, which was decorated with columns and hunting scenes with Eros. In the center of the first two rows, four columns designated a special box for the emperors. Also even during the Byzantine time, a Byzantine Castle was built on the top of the seating areas in the 7th C AD. So in this massive building you see three different time periods construction additions at once.

Climbing up the stairs of the theater you will face the ruins of the city left from an edge of the hill behind the theater panaromicly and your guide informs you about them all such as ; The Lion Harbor, a Hellenistic heroon, Baths of Faustina, the Byzantine Church of St. Michael, the agora, Temple of Serapis, The Sacred Way begins at the Harbor Gate and extended to Didyma with 12 miles(20 km) distance and The Delphinion. The inhabitants of Miletus traveled this route each year for a pilgrimage to the Temple of Apollo.

The Delphinion was the main temple in Miletus. A shrine to Apollo Delphinios (Apollo of the Dolphins), protector of ships and harbors, it was in use by Greek times if not before. It was a rectangular enclosure bordered by two-aisled stoas at the north, east and south. The round base in the center of the courtyard is thought to belong to a Roman-era heroon (temple of a hero). The Delphinion leads onto to the processional way to the Temple of Apollo at Didyma.

Another well preserved structre that you continue to visit inside the ancient city will be the Baths of Faustina where you do see all the different sections of an old Roman bath and learn about the functions and importance of the baths back in those days.. It was built by the order of the wife of Marcus Aurelius in 164 AD. In this large complex you see charming water fountains in the shape of the river god Meander and a small lion, and niches in the “Hall of the Muses” that once held statues of Apollo, Asclepius, Telesphorus, the nine Muses and a head of Aphrodite.

After visiting the Bath of Faustina you will follow the way back to the parking area with your guide and take the drive to famous Didyma to see the huge ruins of the Temple of Apollon.

Approximately 20 minutes driving, you start seeing the huge massive columns of this magnicient temple dedicated to the Greek god Apollon who was also the twin brother of Greek goddess Artemis.

Didyma means “twin” and refers to the twins Apollo and Artemis, who were born to Zeus and Leto.

The Oracle of Apollo at Didyma rivaled that of Delphi; pilgrims flocked to Didyma not only to worship Apollo and attend the festival, but also to find answers about their future. Famous persons known to have visited Didyma’s Temple of Apollo include Alexander the Great’s generals Lysimachus and Seleucus I, and the Roman emperors Augustus and Trajan.

Wait to see this temple with its splendour and wait to learn more from your guide…

After all now its time to see the highlight of the day comes as the Ancient City of Ephesus…You drive like 45 minutes to reach to Selcuk town where the city located.

The ancient city of Ephesus was founded by the the Amazons, the great female warriors in history. The name of the city is thought to have been derived from “Apasas” (name of a queen of Amazons) which sounds very similar to “Ephesus”.The name of the city “Apasas”was a city for the “Kingdom of Arzawa (belongs to the Hittites civilization from the 2nd millenium BC.)” which means “queen bee” or “city of the Mother Goddess”.

Ephesus was inhabited from the end of the Bronze Age, but the location was changed owing to the silting up process of the river Cayster and because of various rulers. Carians and Lelegians were the city’s earliest inhabitants(7000 BC.), Ionian migrations began around 1200 BCE and Ephesus is chiefly known as an Ionian Greek city. Altough there had been a lot of civilizations passed through the region of Ephesus even with its different settlement areas(4 times changing the location of their city), the city that we visit today with all the ruins as being the best preserved ancient city in Anatolia so far discovered is the 3rd location of Ephesus as a Greko-Roman city dating back to the 3rd C BC.

Starting from the upper gate of the city you are going to be following the impressive marble streets of Ephesus with the explanations of your guide who makes you feel like having a journey back to the antiquity and especially to the Roman times as like taking a time machine back into those days…

First of all you start with the administrative part of the city where you see the ruins of The State Agora,Roman Baths, Basilica, Buleterion(Odeon),Prytaneion buildings. After ending the Administrative part of the city you reach to the Domitian Square where you see the ruins of Temple of Domitian,Pollio Fauntain,Memmius Monumet,relief of Nike(Victoria) and then the ordinary life of Ephesus starts where the massive buildings keeps welcoming you as well.

One of the most well known main Street in the city “The Street of Curettes” where you face the jewel of Ephesus which is “The famous Library of Celsus”  comes with a panaromic unbelievable view.

This amazing view is going to be a “Wow” for you. Then you start walking on the Street of Curettes on a collonaded marble street as following the ruins of Gate of Hercules, ruins of the shops which were located behind the columns, The Trajan Fountain, The Scholastika Bath Complex, The Teracce Houses(the residentials of the wealthy families who lived in the city- Has an extra enterance fee), The Temple of Hadrian, Latrines(public toilets of the Romans),Brothel, famous Library of Celsus.

The Library of Celsus will be the ending of the first main Street and then the second main Street for the city comes as the Marble Street. The Street extends from the Library of Celsus till the famous big Grand Theater of Ephesus which is known as one of the largest example with its seating capacity in Anatolia so far discovered. On the way to the big grand Theater, you are going to get shocked seeing the first advertising in Ephesus on a marble peace on the floor showing the direction of … (?) Wait to learn from your guide about the funny story of it…

The impressive Commercial Agora(Market Place) which used to be the heart of the city as being the trade center of the Asia Minor for the Ephesians comes with an impressive view from a teracce on the Marble Street.

The last highlight comes as the big grand Theater of Ephesus with the capasity of 25.000 people which firstly was built as a Greek theater then later coverted into a Roman style. The Theater of Ephesus was the place where St.Paul the Apostale preached to the Ephesians.

You are going to feel the amazing acoustics inside the theater and you are going to be able to imagine that once there used to be the gladiator fights and wild animal fights were being held in the spot where you are standing today.

After the Theater one last main Street comes as the Harbour Streeet(the Arcadiane).The end of this Street was the location of the ancient port of Ephesus which is today about 7 km away from the city itself. Here is another shock for you that after imagining Ephesus was used to be port city and that much silted up by the River Cayster in thousands of years…

Following the way through the Harbour streert, some more ruins will be pointed out by your guide as the Theater Gymnasion, some examples of the Sarcophagi(tombs),Church of Mary and the Harbour Baths…

As ending your tour inside the ancient city with impressive informations and wonderful pictures that you had, you are not going to be taken to the upper gate back again to exit; you are going to exit the ancient city togather with your guide from the lower gate and meet with your private van in the parking area.

After driving back to Kusadasi where the port is like 15 miles distance and dropping you off in the port, ending our services as saying goodbye to our guests with unforgetable memories and with the wishes to welcome them back again…