Kusadasi Turkey

On Saturday, we arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey, located on the Aegean Sea in southwest Turkey (in what was called Anatolia, or Asia Minor up until Roman times).  Most people who come here, come because it is a seaside resort town (many Europeans own second homes here, as the cost of comparable real estate is less than 40% of what it would be along the Mediterranean in Europe).  The other reason people stop in Kusadasi is because of its proximity to Ephesus.  In the 10^th century BC, Ephesus was built and controlled by the Greeks until 129 BC when it was overtaken by the Roman Empire.  Since we had been to Ephesus 3 years ago, I decided on another adventure.

Miletus

The ancient harbor city of Miletus was the economic and cultural center of the eastern Aegean.  At the turn of the 5^th Century BC, Miletus led an unsuccessful uprising of Greek Ionian cities against Persian rule and it was destroyed. Renewed prosperity during the Hellenistic and Roman periods led to a rebirth of the city.  Later, continuous siltation of the Maeander delta cut Miletus off from the open sea and led to annual flooding of the ancient city center.  The harbor did, however, remain functional and was now accessed by the river, but eventually that silted too.  Today the site is 5 miles from the open sea.

Picture 1 gives some idea of what archeologists believe the city looked like.  It was a well-planned city, a model for future cities and towns.  However, today, very little of this has been excavated, and the site is inaccessible.

There is a very nice modern museum, which outlines its history, and displays lots of artifacts – the usual assortment of items of bronze, pottery, and glass. Stone and marble figures abound, both in the museum and in its garden, Picture 2.  The bulk of what is available to explore is from the Roman Period.

The Baths of Faustina were built in the middle of the 2^nd  century AD in honor of the empress Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius;  Picture 3 shows the entrance to the baths. On the right is what is left of the gymnasium, and straight through the wall, puts you in the reception hall.  Picture 4 is in the reception area, notice all the small alcoves along both sides, these were used as changing rooms and  places to rest.  Pictures 5 and 6 are in the fridgedarium or cold bath.  After completing the cold bath, bathers would move on to the tepidarium, or warm room, and after the tepidarium, bathers went to the caldarium, or hot room, Picture 7.

Notice the structure on the hill in Picture 8. This is the Theater.  Picture 9, shows what remains of the Harbor Gate, which leads to the sacred road, connecting several villages going out from Miletus.

The Theater is shown in Pictures 10-11.  This structure was built by the Romans, replacing a 5300 seat Hellenistic theater.  The Roman Theater expanded the seating to 15,000 on three tiers.  Today, the first tier is well restored, the second tier is just so-so, and the third tier has since been dismantled and replaced with a Byzantine castle.

The site today is surrounded by very fertile land.  A significant crop is cotton, and given the climate, they often have two harvests in a year.  The fields in the immediate area are littered with huge stones, pediments and capitals, as well as well-worn examples of statues.

Picture 12, is a photo of a photograph taken by a professional photographer (Rick forgot his camera) at a special event for the 80+ passengers that participated in the full world cruise, along with many of the ships management.  It was taken in front of the Celsus Library façade at Ephesus, where we had a wonderful Turkish dinner, along with a surprisingly good Turkish red wine, while listening to a string trio.  After dinner, we headed over to the Theater area, where tables were set up for us and the remainder of the 450 passengers of our ship for a chamber orchestra concert of classical music, as the sun set over this magical place.  It was an amazing evening.

On to Corfu and Croatia.