Thanks to its favorable position between the sea and a fertile plain surrounded by two swamps that cut it off from the inner lands of Sardinia, Cagliari has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Established around the seventh century BCE as part of a string of Phoenician colonies across the island the city was first known as Karalis and was an important port at the time for trade with Africa. And it was due to this opportune positioning that made it such a valuable prize. By 238 BCE the island had …

Where many of the great cities in the Western Empire acted as centres disseminating the teachings of Christianity, Ulyssippo would bear witness to several martyrs and by 356 CE boast its first Bishop. Unfortunately with the disintegration of the Roman Empire fifty years later, the city was occupied successively for the following twenty years as it changed hand between various barbarian tribes until the Germanic Suebi finally established their kingdom. For over a hundred and sixty years they would rule from their capital of Bracara Augusta before the Germanic …

Lisbon’s history as a human settlement dates back to the Neolithic period when the region was inhabited by Pre-Celtic tribes who built all manner of religious and funerary monuments in the area before being invaded by the Indo-European Celts. By 1200 BCE it’s believed a Phoenician trading post might have been present on the southern slope of the Castle hill, as the sheltered harbor below was ideal for providing a secure port to provision their ships travelling on to the modern day Isles of Scilly and Cornwall. It might even …

The largest city in Portugal with a population of over three million residents, representing almost one-third of country, Lisbon is not only the eleventh most populous urban area in the European Union but the largest westernmost city located in Europe along the Atlantic coast. As a result it’s recognized as one of the major economic centres on the continent with a growing financial sector and possibly the largest if not the second largest container port facility on the coast. With the majority of the multinationals operating in the country headquartered …

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 …

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 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 Olympieion is the ruins of a colossal temple at the centre of Athens that was built over the course of centuries. Dedicated to Zeus, construction began in the sixth century BCE under the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who intended it to be the greatest temple in all the world.
Unfortunately about ten years into the project (ca. 520 BCE) the tyranny was overthrown, and the temple was left unfinished with only the foundation and some elements for the columns completed.

For over three hundred years it would lie in …

With a recorded history dating back to 1100 BCE, Athens joins a handful of cities capable of boasting such a long uninterrupted habitation. The largest of Greece’s cities – and the fourth most populous city of the European Union – the capital continues as it has for millennium to sit at the country’s centre, dominating economics, politics, and culture alike.

And like the other cities this old, Athens is home to numerous ancient monuments and works of art from not only the Golden Age of ancient Greece, but also a variety …

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 …