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 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 …

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 …

During our visit to Chichen Itza, our guide Ivan – described to us by his employer as the Russian with the heart of a Mexican – shared with us his trick for getting the tour without having to pay for the tour.

Places like this Mexican ruin are extremely popular, and thus extremely busy.
This however can be turned to your advantage. Instead of arriving first thing in the morning to jump the crowds, try and get there when the first morning’s tours are beginning. Then you can move around the site …

Given the tendency of societies to build upon previous settlements, older cities have a great wealth of history and can reach much further in the past than we might even expect.

In Cancun for example we discovered this ruin dating from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization within the Hotel Zone, and in our case a close enough walk to the resort that we didn’t even need to take the bus.

This is in fact one of the larger ruins located on Cancun Island and is said to be a contemporary of the more …

Despite its designation as a UNESCO Heritage site, Volubilis has seen little effort made in preserving the beautiful mosaics that lie scattered throughout the ruins. Roman household decorations that despite all these years exposed to the elements have managed to maintain such vibrant colours.

During our tour, the professor who was kind enough to act our guide, told us how these mosaics were in effect a paint by numbers set that the household would “mail-order” the kit from Rome and when delivered have the slaves assemble in further decoration of a …

A little while ago I introduced you to the Jemaa el-Fnaa. But this is not the only UNESCO Heritage site that Morocco boasts. Sitting between Fez and Rabat not far from Meknes is one of the best-preserved Roman ruins in this part of northern Africa, and in 1997 earned the distinction of being named a Heritage site.
While there we were lucky to have as our guide a professor from the Al Akhawayn University and an expert on the region – which was fortunate as we discovered later many of the …