Our next stop was Selçuk, mostly because it encompasses the ancient city of Ephesus.
Ephesus has an illustrious history – the earliest known inhabitants were there in 6500BC, it was the second largest city in the Roman empire (second only to Rome herself) and it has been ruled over by such renowned historical figures as Alexander the Great and Cleopatra’s Antony. It was also an important early centre of Christianity and was honoured with guest appearances by some of Christianity's greats - John the Apostle spent much of his life there, St Paul managed to get himself exiled after just a few short years and the Virgin Mary herself moved to Ephesus after the death of Jesus and spent the remainder of her days there (Note: she may no longer have been a virgin at that stage).
What all of this amounts to today is some incredible ruins, and the awe inspiring sensation that comes from walking where so many people who have changed the world have walked before you.
The church where the Council of Ephesus debated whether Mary had any genetic input into Jesus' divinity, in order to determine whether she deserved the title 'Mother of God'. They eventually decided that she did merit the title since Jesus was 100% divine as well as 100% human, and she has been referred to as Mother of God ever since.
Some sweet sarcophagi, and a really strong guy...
The amphitheatre where Saint Paul delivered his famous speech warning against the worship of graven idols, to a crowd of silversmiths whose livelihoods depended on the making and selling of graven idols... as you can imagine it didn't go down well.
This road was totally epic, it connected the port with the amphitheatre and was just, well, epic.
The library, with the four muses and hundreds of tourists
And everyones favourite attraction at Ephesus... the public toilets! Very cosy... people speculate that there could have been wooden dividers, but I'm not convinced.
Ephesus has an illustrious history – the earliest known inhabitants were there in 6500BC, it was the second largest city in the Roman empire (second only to Rome herself) and it has been ruled over by such renowned historical figures as Alexander the Great and Cleopatra’s Antony. It was also an important early centre of Christianity and was honoured with guest appearances by some of Christianity's greats - John the Apostle spent much of his life there, St Paul managed to get himself exiled after just a few short years and the Virgin Mary herself moved to Ephesus after the death of Jesus and spent the remainder of her days there (Note: she may no longer have been a virgin at that stage).
What all of this amounts to today is some incredible ruins, and the awe inspiring sensation that comes from walking where so many people who have changed the world have walked before you.
The church where the Council of Ephesus debated whether Mary had any genetic input into Jesus' divinity, in order to determine whether she deserved the title 'Mother of God'. They eventually decided that she did merit the title since Jesus was 100% divine as well as 100% human, and she has been referred to as Mother of God ever since.
Some sweet sarcophagi, and a really strong guy...
The amphitheatre where Saint Paul delivered his famous speech warning against the worship of graven idols, to a crowd of silversmiths whose livelihoods depended on the making and selling of graven idols... as you can imagine it didn't go down well.
This road was totally epic, it connected the port with the amphitheatre and was just, well, epic.
The library, with the four muses and hundreds of tourists
And everyones favourite attraction at Ephesus... the public toilets! Very cosy... people speculate that there could have been wooden dividers, but I'm not convinced.
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