Tag Archives: Kusadasi

11 Oct 2016
Kusadasi, Turkey:
Gateway to Ephesus

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

The Greeks, the Lydians, the Romans, the Queen of the Amazons, Diana, the evil eye, the Persians, Saint Paul, Saint John, the Virgin Mary (perhaps), a beautiful port, and throngs of pilgrims.

Kusadasi, on Turkey’s west coast, is the gateway to the extraordinary remains of the ancient city of Ephesus.

We arrived this morning to a wary city, certainly Turkish but very much oriented to modern tourism. The Turks of Kusadasi, like the vast majority of the ones I have met over the years,  are gracious, welcoming, and uncertain about their country’s future.  I wish them well.

The Silk Road reached Ephesus, nearby to Kusadasi, as early as 475 B.C., during the time of Herodotus. The path ran some 2,857 kilometers from the city of Susa in western Persia (now Iran) to the port of Smyrna (modern İzmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea.

The Roman Empire took possession of the coast in the 2nd century BC, and into the early years of Christianity.

Saint John the Evangelist came to the area, and according to Roman Catholic sacred tradition, so too did the Virgin Mary.

The city at the navigable end of the Menderes or Cayster River, Ephesus, was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era.

In the Roman period, in the 1st century BC, Ephesus was a major city. In the year 100, it may have been home to as many as 500,000 people. That made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean.

A few hundred years into the modern era, the city was damaged by earthquakes and the river silted up, leaving its harbor landlocked.

Today it is one of Turkey’s major tourist lures, a spectacular view of the bones of a major ancient city.

AN EPHESUS ALBUM

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Text and images copyright 2016 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

 

21 June 2015
 Kusadasi, Turkey: Ephesus in Encore

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

As we return from Istanbul on our way to Athens and beyond, we are back in Kusadasi, gateway to the global treasure of Ephesus.

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Silver Spirit at the dock in Kusadasi today

You can read more details in my blog entry for June 17.

Here are some new photos from ancient Kusadasi, including a statue from the renovated archeological museum in nearby Selcuk.

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In the Classical Greek era, Ephesus was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. And then under the Romans, Ephesus was a major city.

In the year 100, it may have been home to as many as 500,000 people. That made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean.

An earthquake partially destroyed the town in 614.

The city’s importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River.

Nevertheless, today Ephesus contains the largest collection of Roman ruins in the eastern Mediterranean. Perhaps only 15 percent has been excavated.

The Temple of Artemis was completed around 550 BC. The Temple of Artemis was said to be the largest building of the ancient world, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

All that remains today is one imperfectly reconstituted column.

The Greek goddess Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana.

Together with the great Anatolian goddess Cybele, they were together identified as Artemis of Ephesus.

The Library of Celsus was originally built about AD 125 AD in memory of Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, the Greek governor of Roman Asia in the Roman Empire.

Before he died, Celsus paid for its construction from his considerable personal wealth, and he is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it.

From AD 52–54, Paul lived in Ephesus, working with the local Christians and—according to some—organizing missionary activity in the far reaches.

Also in the area was the apostle John. The Gospel of John may have been written in Ephesus, about A.D. 90–100.

AROUND KUSADASI

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Text and images copyright 2015 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

17 June 2015
 Kusadasi, Turkey: The Glories of Ephesus

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Like nearly all of the country, Turkey’s west coast has been a crossroads from the dawn of time.

To the South by land is the Middle East: Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. To the East is Asia: Iran, Afghanistan, China, Russia. A tough neighborhood.

The Silk Road reached Ephesus, nearby to Kusadasi, as early as 475 B.C., during the time of Herodotus.

The Persian Royal Road ran some 2,857 kilometers from the city of Susa to the port of Smyrna (modern İzmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea.

The Roman Empire took possession of the coast in the 2nd century BC, and into the early years of Christianity.

Saint John the Evangelist came to the area, and according to some threads of Roman Catholic sacred tradition, so too did the Virgin Mary.

Today, to walk the main avenue of Ephesus is one of the best ways to experience time travel anywhere on the planet.

A KUSADASI ALBUM

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Text and images copyright 2015 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

24 October 2014
 Kusadasi and Ephesus, Turkey: Changes in the Air

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

I’ve been to Kusadasi and Ephesus so many times that the street vendors and the cats know me on sight. Not complaining, mind you: this is still one of the most spectacular places in this part of the world and very important to history buffs, Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

But we are now late in the season, and a bit of a cool breeze was wafting through the ancient city. And the crowds were thinner. Disregarding the tourists obsessed with “selfies”, it was possible to engage in my favorite activity: time travel.

For a more detailed description of Kusadasi and Ephesus, see my earlier posts of 11 October 2014, and 23 April 2014.

Here are some photos from today, a clear fall day in a two-millennia-old city,

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All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy of any image, please contact me.

—————————

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

11 October 2014
 Kusadasi, Turkey

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Kusadasi is a place that has been bystander to history for eons.

It has seen the likes of Alexander the Great, Croesus, King Midas, and thousands of travelers and merchants who came to the city on the ancient Silk Road that reached back to Persia and the Middle East.

And a short distance away is the spectacular city of Ephesus, once a great Greek and then Roman city with a population of several hundred thousand and then one of the most important early cities of Christendom.

Today, the invaders arrive by cruise ship and airliner.

Most times, Ephesus is jammed with visitors, shoulder-to-shoulder, iPad-to-iPad, and the sun is merciless. Today, though, late in the season, it was merely busy and even a hint of a cool breeze wafted through the ruins.

Here’s an album of photos from Ephesus and nearby sites.

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The Library of Celsus, the Greek theater and other sites at Ephesus. Photos by Corey Sandler.

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The Basilica of Saint John near Ephesus. Photos by Corey Sandler

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Storks atop a former minaret, a street scene in Selcuk. Photos by Corey Sandler

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Bonjuks to ward off the evil eye, and an honest merchant’s stall near Ephesus. Photos by Corey Sandler

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The ancient Isa Bey mosque. In a row in Selcuk is the pagan Temple of Artemis, the Christian Basilica of Saint John, and this Muslim mosque designed by an architect from Damascus. Photos by Corey Sandler

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The Temple of Claros, an unreconstructed site once home to an oracle. Photos by Corey Sandler

All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

——————————————————————————————–

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order a copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

 

 

23 April 2014: Kusadasi and Ephesus, Turkey

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Kusadasi is a place that has been bystander to history for eons.

It has seen the likes of Alexander the Great, Croesus, King Midas, and thousands of travelers and merchants who came to the city on the ancient Silk Road that reached back to Persia and the Middle East.[whohit]-Kusadasi 23Apr-[/whohit]

And a short distance away is the spectacular city of Ephesus, once a great Greek and then Roman city with a population of several hundred thousand and then one of the most important early cities of Christendom.

Today, the invaders arrive by cruise ship and airliner.

Here’s an album of photos from Ephesus and nearby sites.

Ephesus4 Ephesus2 Ephesus7 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1076 Ephesus6

The Library of Celsus, the Greek theater and other sites at Ephesus. Photos by Corey Sandler.

B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1085 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1076 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1092 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1089 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1087

The Basilica of Saint John near Ephesus. Photos by Corey Sandler

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Storks atop a former minaret, a street scene in Selcuk. Photos by Corey Sandler

Ephesus5 Ephesus3

Bonjuks to ward off the evil eye, and an honest merchant’s stall near Ephesus. Photos by Corey Sandler

B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1096 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1099

The ancient Isa Bey mosque. In a row in Selcuk is the pagan Temple of Artemis, the Christian Basilica of Saint John, and this Muslim mosque designed by an architect from Damascus. Photos by Corey Sandler

B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1110 B-Kusadasi Claros 23Apr2014_DSC1115

The Temple of Claros, an unreconstructed site once home to an oracle. Photos by Corey Sandler