Kusadasi

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<strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kusadasi, Turkey

Nautica arrived in the Turkish port of Kusadasi to find a huge Royal Caribbean cruise ship already docked and towering over us. By the time we tied up at the pier two more cruise ships entered the port, not as large but adding to the expected crush of tourists. Most tourists come here to tour the ancient city of Ephesus. I could have done the same but chose instead to join a group of 7 others in a small van to visit other sites that would be less likely over-run with the waddling masses.

First we drove to see the ruins of a Greek city named Priene. It is several miles out of Kusadasi and has to be reached by a steep climb from a small parking lot. The climb was well worth it. At the top on a small plateau below a soaring rocky cliff was the remains of a city that once housed 130,000 people. Scattered among the pine trees were massive, beautifully carved stone columns. A few were still standing but the majority long since toppled in earthquakes or just brought down by age. The foundations of houses were clearly visible. We walked through a huge theater built into the hillside where thousands once watched Greek plays. I tried to imagine what it might have been like to work as an usher at such a place. The city began about 2,600 years ago and lasted until the 13^th century. After the start of the Christian era one of the earliest Christian churches was built adjoining the theater. Whether this placement was unintentional or symbolic could be food for thought.

Priene was once a sea port but now the inlet from the sea below the city has been silted in by the Meander River. In modern times the port area has become a broad fertile plain where agriculture thrives. I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful place. A walk through the ancient city on a crisp autumn day with the smell of pine in the air is an experience not to be missed, and you will not likely be jostled by hoards of people.

From Priene we visited a quiet Turkish village that required driving up a bumpy road into the hills. Apparently wealthy Turks have been buying dilapidated homes in the village and restoring them to their original design. It was a very quiet place and we saw little activity other than a dog watching us from a porch. Then we were off to see the Roman ruins at the city of Miletus. This is another huge site located on the opposite side of the Meander River. Miletus too was once a sea port, but no longer. The dominant feature here are the remains of a huge theater. Even though much of the top rows of the theater are missing and a Byzantine fort was constructed at the top, the acoustics are still remarkable from the remains of the stage. From this site to the next city of Didyma there once was a broad avenue lined with statues of animals and other figures leading to the colossal temple of Apollo considered one of the great monuments of antiquity. As I walked through the remains of the ancient temple I was reminded of the temple of Karnak at Luxor in Egypt though the columns here were made of white marble with beautifully carved bases and fluted uprights.

The astonishing craftsmanship still visible in the ruins of both Greek and Roman cities I have seen are a testament to the skills of ancient peoples. How these folks managed to carve perfectly symmetrical columns without a stone lathe and how the sections were lifted into place without the aid of modern tools and machines is just mind-numbing. These skills have clearly been lost to time though the evidence of what they could do has lasted for thousands of years. The stone construction of Greek cities seems particularly impressive. The stones were cut to fit perfectly and laid without the aid of concrete. The Roman buildings are also well built but here they had the benefit of cement. I wonder what downtown Seattle will look like in 3 thousand years. All of what we see today will almost

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