Category: Travel

Ephesus Ruins, Turkey

The Ancient City of Ephesus dates to about 900 BCE. It was Hellenized by Alexander the Great and ultimately became the regional Roman Capital in 129 BCE. The ruins today are only 10% restored. The first photo shows the Greek-Style Theater (with up to 25,000 seats!) and the wide avenue leading down to the port (which has silted in). [Gallery]

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Here I am standing next to a Statue Honoring a Physician of that time…

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The Terraced Houses of the elite had fantastic mosaics and other artworks…

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The Library of Celsus was one of the largest in its day…

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The wonders were literally too numerous to count! [Gallery] [Museum]

Termessos Ruins, Turkey

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Termessos was our first encounter with the ancient world of Turkey. Originally built by the Pisidians sometime before 500 BCE, the city is situated on a mountain pass more than 1000 meters above the coastal plain. Our guide told us they were raiders who periodically preyed upon the people below. In 333 BCE Alexander the Great surrounded Termessos but could not conquer it. After that the site was Hellenized and later improved upon by the Romans.

We had to hike up several hundred feet to reach the site. The Inner Wall that stopped Alexander is mostly intact, as is the spectacular Greek-Style Theater at the top. This is also where we first saw the Wood Fairy (or Thread-Winged Lacewing), a beautiful insect that flitted around several of the ruins we visited.

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This Gallery includes panoramas, HDRs and a site map (in Turkish).