Day 17 – September 17 2024 – Selçuk, Ephesus, Sirinçe

Saint John is buried up the hill. This is the Saint John Hotel. Saint John, not of the forearm, was the youngest apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome, who looked after Jesus’ mum and accompanied her to Ephesus, where he last was at; as I said, up the hill. Under the basilica which if it had survived would be the 7th largest in the big churches league, in the world. He’s most familiar as John of Patmos, was Mary’s constant companion …

… and died aged 99, although the info boards here in Selçuk give him an extra year for the round 100.

(The concierge and porter here set out the breakfast; obvious, in the choices of baked goods and the absence of fresh ones; I discovered a love of cake for breakfast.)

prevaricated over spending €40 each to get in the gate at Ephesus and never ended up justifying it to ourselves but did it anyway. drove outa town and entering the otopark (@ ₺220) at 9.30 already there was a row of buses parked up and a throngs being rallied by their guides on the far side of the turnstile.

Another Disney experience, the getting in, under the shadecloth, a mall of hucksters, then forking the 40 euro at the booth, on its glass, We only accept Turkish Lira (!!), and we walked out under the cypresses towards the big crane beside the big amphitheatre, seating for 25,000, currently under restoration, so, big blocks of marble being dropped in, with little regard for authenticity.

Before getting up close we departed the Classical route for Mary’s Church. This was outstanding in scale.

The info board noted that it was in use through the medieval period but it makes no sense to talk about medieval in regard to the Byzantines. After all, they were Romans who spoke Greek. This thought looped back to the German Kings pretending to the role of Holy Roman Emperor … the Austro-Hungarian Empire … and the Third, that Albert Speer was going to create on Classical lines.

It must be said that the Byzantines are treated by Türkiye with prejudice.

…

Dog eating sheep’s head before amphitheatre,

Cat, Ephesus,

Ephesus, despite moments of agoraphobia in the Terrace Houses, packed out with tours, and an American woman floored by the heat, her tour delayed, giving us room to breathe, didn’t disappoint. It was gratifying being able to piece this puzzle of history together, Why are the Greeks after the Romans? when the Greeks precede the Romans? … And fun to read a translation of a wall of text about raising money to build Ephesus and turn a corner to see a board showing the company brands contributing to its restoration.

structural kedi,

After Ephesus, a swim at St. John’s Hotel, lunch, then the climb to Ayasuluk Castle,

the entrance to which proved elusive but that we finally found, by way of St. John of Patmos’s basilica (here a full body baptismal font built into the floor just as it was at Mary’s Church).

The view from the castle showed the extent of the harbour, now an horticultural patchwork, that it commanded.

… and after that, a drive up behind Selçuk to Sirinçe. Interesting. A Greek village, emptied by the purge of Greeks, as part of Lausanne, the houses re-filled by Turks. Now a substantial site of industrial tourism; but the people here do it so well, keeping their chaos, and without showing any resentment towards the English, German, Italian, and so on, hoards.

If you visit with a car, head to the left of the entrance to Sirinçe. The first otopark is a fraction of any on the way in, and the second down is free.

On the stoop of Hotel Saint John,

Tired, too, to venture forth for dinner, I came to an arrangement with the charming concierge, who is wearing long jean shorts today. He used his food ordering app on our behalf and ordered in a pizza. with pastarmı, as John Ash says, a Byzantine invention which has ended up on the streets of New York, pastrami. Yum Domino’s Yum. Thin crust. tasty . and baklava to follow … Our concierge I discovered is getting married in October, his bride to be Chinese. He of course speaks Chinese. Mandarin. Unfortunately his bride-to-be’s mother will not be joining them, she died two years ago, while her father is 79. So they will have a second wedding in China. It will be small, only family