Monday we toured the ancient city of Ephesus, which at one time had a population of 240,000 and an amphitheater which held 24,000 people at one time.

We entered near the public baths, walked past the arena which held around 1800 people and overlooked a huge public space which was used for festivals but also for gathering soldiers and warriors for battle.

Ephesus was a port town at one time, but the harbor was slowly silted up and the harbor is now many kilometers from the town. There have also been many earthquakes which destroyed the city (which was rebuilt many times too). Originally a Greek city it was taken over by the Romans in 129BC. It was destroyed by the Goths in the mid 200s AD, and though rebuilt slowly declined due to the aforementioned silting of the harbor and earthquakes.

Ephesus was also known for the Artemis Temple, of which a sole pillar remains (and that one is comprised of pieces from several pillars. This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

A word of warning: we saw two people fall on the slippery marble, so don’t miss balance day at the gym before you visit! And be prepared for huge crowds from the many cruise ships which dock in Izmir about an hour away (the people from the ships seemed to be the ones falling).

After leaving the arena, we walked down Curetes street which in ancient times was paved in marble and had porticos on either side under which tradesmen (including doctors), inns and artisans plied their trade. They are still excavating this area.

The terrace houses are also along Curetes Street. We went to see them (separate ticket, well worth it for this covered exhibit). The largest of the terrace houses is around 20,000 square feet and includes a private bath, a basilica (or gathering spot), a courtyard and many mosaics on the floors and marble or painted walls. Interestingly, there are no windows since the technology to make panes of glass had not yet been invented, but even more importantly, it was dangerous to have a window or even a shuttered opening since invasions were so common and violent.

Leaving the terrace houses we saw a gate sponsored by a rich citizen in honor of Hadrian. Then we walked through the bath complex. The bath area had cold, tepid and hot water and even a sort of hot tub, heated by steam from an adjacent room. The private changing areas had sliding doors…you can see the rails carved into the stone even today.

There was also a large room of toilets, an area for the powerful men of the area to gossip as well. And there was a brothel (in that time an honorable profession) with about 30 rooms.

The library is opposite the baths, a huge building and beautiful with ornate carvings. Adjacent to the library is the huge Agora or market, where everything from home goods to people (slaves) were sold.

We saw this graffiti along the way: the left shoe and right carving of the library indicates turn left by the library, the carving of the woman means brothel (along with the heart symbol) and the indentation for a coin means you have to pay.

The walls lining the walkway to the huge Theater have many holes dug out, for the lead or iron that was put there originally to hold the blocks together. These items were refused for bullets, weapons etc in poor times.

The theater is massive and still used for concerts. The acoustics were amazing…we could hear music from a phone all over the theater. We walked up to the top, took our selfies climbed down and went to lunch.

We had lunch at a typical Turkish spot or so our guide, Tuna, told us. It was a buffet, different from most we’ve seen since the cooking pots were on the buffet, which had lentil soup (great) and many bean and vegetable dishes. We all enjoyed it.

Our last stop was for the house of the Virgin Mary, though we also did a short stop at the site of the Temple of Artemis.

We said good by to our guide and driver which were both great. We visited the Ephesus museum (not a must see in our opinion), visited a Migros market for some snacks for dinner, and got back to our hotel before the much predicted rain finally hit.