Ephesus

I wasn’t entirely ready for the sheer size and magnificence of Ephesus, Turkey. These ruins cover a large area that at one time had a quarter of a million people living there. And this all started almost 3,000 years ago. The ruins we saw were about 2,000 years old. The ocean used to run right up to city but has since been filled in by sediment.

Ephesus had running water to every home, public baths, a theater that held 24,000 people and an incredibly beautiful library.

Strangely enough some marauding army did not destroy this great city. It succumbed to massive earthquakes, drought, sedimentation and a malaria outbreak that killed 200,000 people.

The Turkish Government is doing a great job of restoring this global treasure. Lets hope that Turkey remains a secular country where there is nor radical Islamist government. The last Islamist secular government that is on the rocks is Iraq.

Late today, Sunday, we sail for Rhodes Greece and a long day of excursions there.