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Anatolian is the mother of the
civilisations and culture.
EPHESUS and SELÇUK
(20 km. north of Kusadasi)
Ephesus is the best preserved ancient city in the eastern
Mediterranen. Ephesus, on the sea at the time, quickly became a powerful trading port and sacred
center for the cult of Artemis. Like most Ionian cities in Asia
Minor, Ephesus became a Roman city, and a Christian one though not
without a struggle. Ephesus was doomed by the silting in its
harbour. By the 6th century the port had become useless and the
population had shifted to what is now Selçuk; today, Ephesus is 5
km from the sea. Ephesus is the showpiece of Aegean archaeology
and one of the grandest reconstructed ancient sites in the world.
The site is a pleasure to explore: Marble-paved streets with
grooves made by chairot wheels take you past buildings and
monuments that have been partially reconstructed.
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EPHESUS MUSEUM
has one of the best collections of Roman and Greek artifacts to be
found anywhere in Turkey.
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TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS
is one of the Seven Wonders of the world, is on the
Kusadasi-Ephesus road.
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VIRGIN MARY'S HOUSE
(7 km to Ephesus) is becoming an increasingly popular pilgrimage
for Catholics. Many believe it to have been the place where Saint
John took the mother of Jesus after the crucifixion and from which
she ascended to heaven. Pope Paul VI visited the site in 1967 and
confirmed its authenticity.
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SIRINCE
(9 km to Selcuk) A well preserved Greek Village from 6th Century.
It is now under the protection of the government. In 1926 the
Greeks living there went back to Greece, and the Turks living in
Greece came here.
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PAMUKKALE (HIERAPOLIS)
(150 miles east of Kusadasi) Pamukkale (which means cotton castle
in Turkish), appears as a chalky white cliff rising 330 feet from
the plains. Mineral-rich volcanic spring water cascades over
basins and natural terraces, crystallizing into white curtains of
solidified water seemingly suspended in air. The hot springs in
the area are used today by people who believe that the water can
cure rheumatism and other problems. Hierapolis demonstrates how
long the magical springs of Pamukkale have cast their spell over
visitors to the region. The ruins that can be seen today date from
the time of the Roman Empire, although there are refences to a
settlement here as far back as the 5th century BC.
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APHRODISIAS
(54 miles from Pamukkale) The city of Aphrodite, goddess of love,
is one of the largest and best preserved archeological sites in Turkey. Aprodisias, which
was granted autonomy by the Roman Empire in the late 1st century BC,
prospered as a significant center for religion, arts and
literature in the early 1st century AD.
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IZMIR
Turkey's 3rd largest city,
was called Smyrna untill 1923. A vital trading port, though one
often ravaged by wars and earthquakes, it also had its share of
glory. Many believe that Homer was born in Old Smyrna sometime
around 850 BC. Alexander the Great favored the city with a citadel
atop its highest hill.
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PRIENE
(23 miles south of Kusadasi)
Priene sits in a spectacular location atop a steep hill above the
flat valley of the Meander River. Dating from about 350 BC, the
city you see today was still under construction in 334, when
Alexander the Great liberated the Ionian settlements commerce
moved to neigboring Miletus, and the city's prosperity waned. As a
result, the Romans never rebuilt Priene, and the simpler Grek
style predominates as in few other ancient cities in Turkey.
Excavated by British archeologists in 1868-69, it's smaller than
Ephesus and far less grandiose.
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MILETUS
(10 miles south of Priene) Miletus was one of the greatest
commercial centers of the Greek world before its harbour silted
over. Saint Paul preached here before the harbour became
impassable and the city had to be abandoned once and for all.
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DIDYMA
(12 miles south of Miletus) Didyma is famous for its magnificent
Temple of Apollo. As grand in scale as the Parthenon-measuring 623
feet by 167 feet-the temple has 124 well-preserved column, some
still supporting their architrave; its oracles rivaled those of
Delphi. The popularity of the oracle dwindled with the rise
of Christianity, around AD 385. Fragments of bas-relief on display
by the entrance to the site include a gigantic head of Medusa and
a small statue of Poseidon and his wife, Amphitrite.
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GALLIPOLI
(400 km. nort of Kusadasi) lies to the north of the Dardanelles,
the narrow straits that separate Europe from Asia and connect the
Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. This strategic point has been
fought over since the days of the Trojan War. Thirty-one
beatifully tended military cemeteries of the allied dead from
World War I line the Gallipoli battlefields. The major battles
were in two sections-along the coast between Kabatepe and Sulva
Bay, and at Cape Helles.
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TROY
(370 km. nort of Kusadasi) is one of the most evocative names in
literature. Long thought to be the figment of the Greek poet
Homer's imagination, depicted in his epic Iliad, the site was
excavated in the 1870s by h. Schliemann, a minister's son and
German businessman who had struck it rich in California's gold
rush. While scholars scoffed, he poured his wealth into the
excavations and had the last laugh: He found the remains not only
of the fabled Troy, but also of nine successive civilizations, one
on top of the other, dating back 5.000 years and now known among
the archaeologists as Troy I-IX
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PERGAMUM
was one of the ancient world's major powers, though its moment of
glory was relatively brief. The most dramatic of the remains are
at the acropolis, then you can see the scant remains of the Temple
of Athena and the Altar of Zeus; once among the grandest monuments
in the Greek world. The Asklepieion is believed to be the world's
first full-service health clinic. The name is a reference to
Asklepios, god of medicine and recovery, whose snake and staff are
now the symbol of modern medicine.
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