In this, the final part of our blog series about the trip, we will show you more wonders of the ancient world.
But first, lunch.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, after having escaped the wind, rain, and hail in Ephesus, we sloshed and dripped our way into a little pide cafe in Seljuk, the town near Ephesus, and cheered our lagging spirits with hot tea and fresh pizzas baked right next to an open fire.
The pizzas were $3 each. Wouldn’t that make you smile, too?
In Seljuk, we found bits of this Byzantine Aqueduct, complete with annual stork nests.
And what do you suppose this lonely pillar could be? None other than the last remaining bit of the huge, grandiose Temple of Artemis, which was said to have surpassed the Parthenon. This
pillar is all that is left of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Interestingly enough, we went somewhere in Istanbul (more on this in a later post) that had a miniature reproduction of the Temple of Artemis, so we can show you what it may have looked like in its glory.
The next day, our last in Izmir, dawned clear, blue, and beautiful … of course. Nary a cloud to see in the sky. It was crisp, but dry. A perfect day to see ancient cities, right? Well, since we couldn’t go back to Ephesus because our flight left in the afternoon, we decided to find a city right in Izmir.
We started out walking from our hotel, and Lord Herndon graciously helped to carry two children so that I would only have to carry one.
Serpil said that Turkish people would think he was crazy. She certainly found the sight funny! And we did attract many curious gazes and open stares.
We came upon this construction crew demolishing an ancient building.
But look what they were revealing! The agora (marketplace) of the ancient city of Smyrna is located in the heart of the booming metropolis of Izmir, and they are excavating as much of it as they can, with skyscrapers, office buildings, parking garages, and apartment buildings looming in on each side. What they have uncovered so far, though, is amazing.
Smyrna is also mentioned in the Bible. Revelation 2:8 says “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.”
The Christians in Smyrna struggled with poverty, hypocrites, persecution, imprisonment, and death, but John wrote to encourage them to stay strong, even to death, and they will be given the “crown of life.“
Smyrna competed with the other ancient cities of Ephesus and Pergamum (also mentioned in Revelation, also in Turkey, also on our must-see list) in contests of beauty and temple-building. Smyrna was once named “the most beautiful, largest, and brightest metropolis of the Asian state.”
However, Smyrna suffered from many earthquakes, the most devastating of which left the city in rubble.
It never regained its former glory.
Our last stop in Izmir was the fortress of Kadifekale, built by Alexander the Great when he conquered and rebuilt Smyrna.
After all of this traveling, Princess decided to relax by sitting back and reading the paper. Prince thoroughly enjoyed himself on this trip, as you can see. He will have lots of stories for his teacher on Monday.
