Cameron Highlands Tea Plantation, Malaysia

Monday, November 8, 2010

My World - The Ancient Ruins of Ephesus

We made our way to the archaeological site of Ephesus after our visit to the House of Virgin Mary. Ephesus is an ancient city originally built by the Greeks and expanded periodically and inhabited by the Romans. Now, it's a site of astounding ruins and reveals a lot about the rich historical past. Almost everywhere in Ephesus you see the remains of ancient buildings damaged by earthquakes and invasions in the past hundreds of years.

Getting around Ephesus is quite straight forward because all you need to do is follow a large pathway that cuts right through the middle of the street. There are ruins to explore that line on both sides of Curete Street as you walk along the way.

We spend a few hours strolling around the ruins, peering through the cracks in the doorways and climbing ancient steps. I was also surprised to learn that excavations are still underway, almost 50 per cent remained buried under layers of earth.


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Before one entered a Roman city, they were required to bathe. This Roman bath consists of three sections. One is for frigidarium (cold water), while the other two are tepidarium (warm water) and caldarium (hot water).


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Remains of reliefs and structures in Upper Agora


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The Memmius Monument. It is located in Curete Street amongst many other great monuments.


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Beautiful ruins of the Temple of Hadrian.


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Looking downhill at the end of the road, you can notice the Library of Celsus, a two story facade that is the most amazing structure within Ephesus and standing on the right side of the library is Gate of Augustus. The remarkable library once held 12,000 scrolls in its walls for almost two thousand years ago.


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A closer view of the intricate carvings of the library. Absolutely incredible if you imagine how long these have been standing here and for us to view today


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In addition to the impressive library, we spotted a famous stone carving of the ancient Greek goddess of victory, Nike. Have you ever wondered where the name Nike came from? I was told that the shoes that athletes wear have a connection to the Greek mythology. The famous Nike "swoosh" logo, created by Carolyn Davidson in 1971, is an abstract representation of the goddess' wings.


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And this is the Grand theater, capable of seating up to 25,000 people. Even now, the size of this arena is magnificent and it offers bird’s eye view of the ancient city of Ephesus. Big names such as U2, Elton John, Ray Charles, Sting, Bryan Adams and many more have have held concerts here. This theater is still used today for more modern concerts during summer. After a long day of walking, it was nice to actually have a place to sit down!


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Here you can see the most important trade center of Ephesus. The commercial agora was constructed in the hellenistic period, but rebuilt several times by the Romans.

Ephesus was so much more fabulous than we anticipated. Having also visited the Acropolis of Athens somehow I was even more amazed by Ephesus. The further downhill we went, the more remarkable and incredible the surroundings were. It must have been a truly magnificent, huge city during ancient times.


32 comments:

  1. Hi LR! You sure did go to a lot of places on your trip, how many countries all in?

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  2. I would love to visit the grand theater and see for myself the bird’s eye view of Ephesus, WOW! :D

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  3. I love the pic of the intricate carvings of the library the best, excellent shot! :D

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  4. Happy Monday sweetie, just doing my EC round.. :)

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  5. It must be very exciting to visit the ruins. I can imagine myself trying to pretend that I was transported back to the heyday while walking around and savouring the site. :)

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  6. This is a fabulous post. Thank you for the narration and the superb photographs.

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  7. Nice pictures of architecture.Greetings Andrzej.

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  8. I noticed your photos are so sharp and clear compared to many others I have seen. I guess the weather was perfect on that day. So nice!

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  9. Thank you so much for taking us with you on your visit to Ephesus. These are some of the best pictures I've ever seen of the ruins. I especially enjoyed your pictures of the library and its carvings.

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  10. Wow...50% still remained buried? Must be due to the earthquake that you mentioned right?

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  11. Although they were only ruins and remnants from the past civilization, I can't helped but admire them. :D

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  12. This is really awesome. I'm so glad that some the glories of past civilizations are still preserved to this day.

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  13. How exciting you were able to walk through history. I was awed when visiting the coliseum and other ancient structures and carvings in Rome. Your photos are great! I especially like the unique perspective of the columns to the library. Thanks for sharing your journey!

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  14. What a fantastic post for the day and your photos are superb!! I spend ten days in Greece a number of years ago and we got to so many gorgeous, amazing places including the Island in the Cyclades and Olympus. The Greek culture/history from those days never ceases to amaze me. I've always wanted to go back there again, but your photos are the next best thing! Thank you for the beauty and for the memories! Have a wonderful week!

    Sylvia

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  15. I agree with you. I too visited Acropolis of Athens first then visited the ruins of Ephesus, and I was more blown away by the reliefs here. Maybe because very little has been advertised about this place and Acropolis is known so much that you feel like your expectations are so much higher in Acropolis.

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  16. There are more secrets waiting to be discovered I am sure.

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  17. Beautiful shots of the place. The images of the ruins give some idea of how spectacular this place could have been.

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  18. Extraordinary, and those are great shots. I wonder how many of our buildings and arenas will be standing in 2,000 years.

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  19. truly amazing! and your photos are fantastic.

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  20. What extraordinary shots of an amazing place! I was immediately transported back in time...

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  21. I have been there two years ago and I am glad that I found your blog because I am in love with Greece!
    Wonderful trip!
    Regards from Romania!

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  22. Very beautiful indeed... The pics just show us what a marvel the place would have been in those times!!
    Have a great day:)
    My Yatra Diary...

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  23. Hello LR!! Wow, this is just terrific. I have always dreamed of visiting Greece and Rome too!!

    You got some great shots. You have me dreaming!!
    Happy day,
    Jackie:-)

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  24. I would love to visit here. If I don't manage to go, it has been good to follow your journey.

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  25. Thanks for your kind comments everyone.

    Hi Mariuca,
    many people have been asking me the same thing too. My blog is still flooded with memories of Europe at the moment, just can't help it. There are too many photos to share. :) Our amazing European trip started off from Dubai, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria and finished at Moscow.

    Hi Jackie,
    it's so great to see you here again. thanks for stopping by and say hello today. hope everything is well for you. big hugs.

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  26. I can imagine the good time and memories you had. They are simply so awesome and nice to explore. I know I will love these places too ~ I am coming soon!

    The theater surprised me that it could seat 25,000 people! Sure boh?

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  27. Wow! These are great pics! This would be high on my list of historical places to visit :)

    Happy WW

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  28. this is an amazing place! thanks for the history lesson and pics dearie! :)

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  29. Wonderful post - we were there on a cruise last fall. I wished that I had had more time to hang out amongst the ruins.

    I am surprised that there are no cats in any of your shots. We were unable to take many shots that were not full of ctas lounging int eh sun.

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