Over its long and varied history Ephesus has been home to numerous civilizations, from its role in founding the Ancient Greek Ionian League in tenth century BCE, to its prominence second only to Constantinople fourteen hundred years later under the Byzantium Empire, Ephesus was long important to the region while it was a port city.
Such accessibility to ships could only have been attractive to the Apostle Paul when he travelled with his congregation to Ephesus in 50 CE during his second missionary journey. Despite being established under a Roman Empire …

After the destruction caused by the Goths in 263 CE the city lay in ruin for over a hundred years. Not until the reign of emperor Constantine I in 395 would Ephesus see any effort to rebuild, but from this point would enjoy numerous renovations and additions under successive emperors and even rise to prominence as the second most important city in all the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople.
Unfortunately after the earthquake in 614 partially destroyed the city again, Ephesus slid further into decline as the harbor filled with silt and …

Incorporation of Ephesus into the Roman Republic proved tumultuous as taxes rose and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered – a practice that would contribute to the Vespers of 88 BCE, an infamous episode responsible for starting the First Mithridatic War, when the king of Pontus, Mithridates the Great, used local discontent with the Romans and their taxes, to orchestrate the execution of some 80’000 Roman and Italian citizens (effectively anyone who spoke with a Latin accent) across Asia Minor.
Having heard word of the massacre at Chios by …

While many go to the Ayasofya to take in its majesty, some go with the sole purpose of sticking their finger in the building’s “weeping column” in hopes that their prayer for healing or other such miracles might be heard.

Taken from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus it now stands in the northern corner of the museum. Made of white marble with a bronze belt that circles the lower part of the column, a hole toward the base and the water which drops out of it are associated with …

While Ephesus’ history as a city is usually traced back to its founding as one of the twelve ancient Greek cities which comprised the Ionian League (circa 10th century BCE), its first inhabitance actually dates back much further to the Neolithic Age – some time around 6000 BCE – after nearby excavations discovered the artificial mounds (hoyuk’s) of Aryalya and Cukurici.
Even five centuries earlier in the Bronze Age before the arrival of the ancient Greeks, a burial ground from the Mycenaean era (circa 15th century BCE) was discovered close to …

The Hagia Sophia is actually the third of three churches that have been built since the first “Great Church” was inaugurated on February 15, 360 CE by Emperor Constantius II. The church was called this because it was larger than most of the contemporary churches in the city at the time, and acted in concert with the Hagia Eirene – “Holy Peace” – as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire and was said to be one of the world’s most impressive monuments at the time.

However when the Constantinople patriarch …

After a few days in Istanbul, we started out our cruise with the first port of call in Kusadasi, Turkey. We’d been looking forward to this stop having read about the great ruins of Ephesus in the nearby hills.

The ruins first started out as one of the twelve ancient Greek cities that made up the Ionian League in the 11th century BCE, and would later become a major Roman city on the west coast of Asia Minor boasting a population of more than a quarter million in the 1st …

Yesterday, we enjoyed a relatively slow day at sea after a whirlwind tour of ruins at Ephesus and in Athens.  We say ‘relatively’ because we spent part of our day running around the ship for Augusto’s FlipCam Scavenger Hunt in which Nic did stupid things on camera for points.  Don’t worry – we have the video, thanks to Augusto!
We also did a little napping and a little dancing and a little drinking, and may possibly be convinced into a dancing competition due to an offhand comment made to the Cruise …