The Greek Isles: Ancient Ephesus and Turkish Carpets

The Norwegian Getaway docked at 7am in Izmir, Turkey. This was the first of two Turkish stops on our Greek Isles cruise and then next would be 2 days in Istanbul.

Our usual thrifty plans to catch the City Sightseeing buses were not possible in Izmir as there was no bus so we splurged and used some ship credit to do one of the ship excursions to the ancient ruins of Ephesus.

I have always heard about Ephesus in the bible, so to get the opportunity to actually walk amongst the ruins could not be missed. We were up early, got our breakfast in the dining hall and then headed to the large bus that stood waiting for us.

The benefit of doing a ship excursion is that the ship will never leave without you. But if you wander off on your own and don’t return by the 4pm curfew then there is a high chance you will be stranded in a port of a foreign country with no passport except for a ship card and you will have to make your way to the next port of call with the clothes on your back. This is not something that I ever want to experience.

The bus ride was about an hour long and we stopped for a loo & coffee break before heading to Ephesus. Our tour guide explained the history of the area on the trip and then continued with a walking tour through Ephesus.

Ephesus

The Odeon

We entered at the Upper Gate of Ephesus and were immediately greeted by the ruins of the baths and small Odeon amphitheater. There were so many tour groups that our guide had to use a speaker and coloured umbrella for us to follow him.

Left - Curetes street / Right - Hercules Gate

We made our way down the marble street named Curetes Street, which has been polished by the centuries of foot traffic. The pillars of Hercules gate are still standing after the centuries.

Next was the Fountain of Trajan with its decorative pillars and lintel. This is where the every day people would have collected their water with large clay pots carried back and forth.

My next favourite was The Temple of Hadrian. The facade and lintel were exquisitely detailed and it has always boggled my mind that stone blocks of this size could be lifted and balanced in place over 2000 years ago.

Terrace House 1 is visible from the path and open to the elements. It is not as well preserved but shows how the rooms flowed from one to another.

Our tickets included a visit to the Terraced Houses 2. This is a special area of Ephesus that was originally completely covered in mud and earth and has been painstakingly unearthed by archaeologists. The digging continues on sites next door, but for now we are able to walk through this area which is protected by a large structure and tent to preserve the terraces that were uncovered.

This group of terrace house would have been the home to various families or extended family at the time. The mosaics and expensive wall coverings show that these would have been home to wealthy families. There are 6 Terrace homes in this complex and each would have an entrance hall, communal hospitality areas, bedrooms, offices for negotiations and baths with hot, moderate or cold water as place to lounge which showed your status.

We again saw the tiny mosaic detail in the floors, just like Thessaloniki museum.

These Terraced homes of the rich on the hill may have been two or three stories high and would have been cooled by the thick walls and roofs.

They also had tapped and plumbed water from water tanks whereas the poorer people would have had to collect their water from local fountains in the squares in huge pots to carry home.

We exited the houses at an upper dooryard leading to a side entrance with a balcony view over Ephesus below. From here we could clearly see Marble street leading towards the Amphitheater as well as the views of the green “estuary” that would have once been the sea.

Over the centuries the river silted up and what was the harbour is now filled with sand until the sea today which is about 6 Kilometres away in the distance.

Left - Library of Celsus / Right - Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates

Library of Celsus

Back on the street below we found the magnificent Library of Celsus. I walked up the stairs into the inner “room” of the library with its roof long gone to the elements. Most people entered it to find shade, but I just loved the architecture.

Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates

My husband waited below on Marble street and together we walked through the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates. This is the actual spot where the disciple Paul in the bible stood to preach the gospel to the Ephesians. Anyone with a strong appreciation for history should visit Ephesus and do a guided tour. There is just so much to explore.

We walked down Marble street past Harbour street, which would have taken you straight to the harbour, but today the old harbour is a sandy mound with the new harbour of Kusadasi 15 kilometres away.

Harbour Street in the foreground & The Great Theatre of Ephesus behind

The Great Theatre of Ephesus was a sight to behold. It would have held around 24 000 people and used for large events to gather the city and surrounding towns. Today it is still used and was recently was host to The International Ephesus Opera and Ballet Festival in 2025. It is a prestigious venue for cultural events and concerts.

By now it was hot at midday and we found shade under some trees near the lower gate where we were going to meet our bus.

The Turkish Carpet Factory

On the way back to the ship we made one last stop at a local family owned Turkish Carpet Factory called OBA Rugs & Carpets. It has been in the family for hundreds of years, passed down from generation to generation.

First they explained how silk is harvested from the silk worm cocoons using the old methods. It was very interesting!

Followed by real time demonstrations of the women painstakingly weaving the rug to a specific pattern. Each vertical string gets a knot and the woman is holding a tiny blade, so the wool or silk is cut and then all the threads are trimmed to be the same length which forms the pile of the carpet with silk being the finest and most expensive.

Then we moved indoors and got to view the magnificent carpets with incredible detail. They explained that some carpets are made from an intricate pattern followed precisely by the weaver, while others are freestyle and designed purely by the weaver herself.

Some of the most detailed carpets take up to five years to weave by one woman committing to it daily. These would be the most expensive. A few people ordered carpets and looked forward to them being shipped home.

We were then treated to a light lunch of local Turkish pies, pastries, fruit and drinks.

By the time we made it back to the ship we were very thankful that we had taken the opportunity to do this excursion to Ephesus. There is no way that we could have managed all of that in the time that we had available and it was a once in a lifetime experience.

Follow me for more blogs about our Greek Isles cruise and a lot more future travel to come.

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