Kusadasi (Bird Island) and the Glorious Ephesus

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Kusadasi...the derivation of this word is kus, meaning bird and ada which means island, Bird Island. We would see later why it was named Bird Island. We arrived into the port of Kusadasi early in the morning and quickly realized it was raining. We grabbed our raincoats and umbrellas and started our day, excited to see Ephesus! It was not a great day for photos (Many are filled with umbrellas) but we still enjoyed seeing the beauty of the ruins of Ephesus.

Ephesus was famous for the Temple of Artemis, 550 B.C. It was one of the Seven wonders of the Ancient World. Constantine rebuilt much of Ephesus and erected public baths and public toilets. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Bible in the Book of Revelations. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient World. Paul lived in Ephesus from 52-54 A.D. and he wrote the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus and later wrote the Epistle to Ephesians.

We saw the Temple of Hadrian, The Library of Celsus (so cool) and it's theatre which held 25,000 spectators. Tim played "Air Guitar" in the Theatre and Matt sang O Sole Mio! It echoed! Matt, Nikki and Daniel, Maritza, Diego and Margarita were part of our group to see Ephesus. We went to the Basilica of St. John and saw where John baptized followers. Many columns in the area were topped with enormous Stork nests. Some of the Mama Storks were feeding their young. They were so pretty! They were on columns everywhere.

A favorite place we toured was the House of Mary. Mary spent her later years in Ephesus. The House of the Virgin Mary is reported to be the last home of The Blessed Mother. We went to the House of the Virgin Mary with Diego and Margarita and Tim lit a candle in honor of Tim's Mom and Dad. It was a small home nestled on a hill near Ephesus where John the Baptist brought the Virgin Mary after Jesus died. He had promised Jesus to take care of his mother. It was a peaceful place and it was nice to pay our respects.

After lunch at a wonderful hotel, we went back to town. It finally stopped raining so we went to a shop that made and sold carpets. We were fascinated with the silk cocoons and how they separated the tiny threads of silk. They brought carpets out to tempt us and they were such beautiful colors and designs. We ended up purchasing a really pretty red carpet. We decided to go have a Turkish Coffee after our buying spree and the only place we could find that was close was Starbucks. When we walked inside there was a guy that Tim had gone to school with in Birmingham, MI. Small World! He was there with his family.

As we departed Kusadasi, we were able to see the beautiful countryside of Turkey off the aft of the ship. I definitely want to go back to Turkey. The people were amazing and the scenery so memorable!

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Photos

The Odeon
A small roofed theatre for 1,500 people built in 150 A.D.