Sights in Aegean Coast
-
A
Troy
The approach to Troy, 36km from Çanakkale, is across rolling grain fields. This is the ancient Troad, all but lost to legend until German-born Californian treasure-seeker and amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-90) excavated atop a promising hill in 1871. He uncovered four superimposed ancient towns, destroying three others in the process.
The window where you buy your admission ticket is just past the village of Tevfikiye, 500m before the site. Guidebooks (with maps) to the site are available at souvenir shops near the ticket box.
In Homer's Iliad, Troy was the town of Ilium. The Trojan War took place in the 13th century BC, with Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus…
reviewed
-
B
Castle of St Peter
When Tamerlane invaded Anatolia in 1402, throwing the nascent Ottoman Empire temporarily off balance, the Knights Hospitaller based in Rhodes took the opportunity to capture Bodrum. By 1437 they had erected the Castle of St Peter, which they continued to augment with new defensive features – including moats, walls and water cisterns – over the ensuing decades. However, in 1522, when Süleyman the Magnificent captured the Knights' headquarters in Rhodes, the Bodrum contingent was forced to abandon the castle without having ever truly tested its fearsome defensive capabilities. The castle fell into decline during the succeeding centuries and suffered some shell damage during…
reviewed
-
Acropolis
The road up to the acropolis winds 5km from the Red Basilica to a car park (TL3) at the top, with some souvenir and refreshment stands nearby. If you're planning to walk to the site, take plenty of water as you won't be able to stock up on the way. A short cut shaves a couple of kilometres from the walk; opposite the Red Basilica, take Mahmut Şevket Paşa Sokak, the narrow lane between Aklar Gıda groceries and a carpet shop, which leads to the Lower Agora. Take care as the path is steep and not always clearly marked.
A line of rather faded (and in some places completely obliterated) blue dots marks a suggested route around the main structures, which include the library a…
reviewed
-
C
Mausoleum
Founded some time in the 11th century BC, the ancient kingdom of Caria (which encompassed modern-day Bodrum) became absorbed into the Persian Empire, although it continued to exercise a degree of autonomy until the arrival of Alexander two centuries later. During that time its most famous leader (satrap) was Mausolus (r 376–353 BC), an admirer of Greek culture, who moved the capital from Mylasa to Halicarnassus. After his death, his wife (and sister), Artemisia, undertook the construction of a monumental tomb, as planned by Mausolus himself and designed in a Hellenic-style by Pytheos, the man behind the Temple of Athena at Priene. The Mausoleum – an enormous white-marble …
reviewed
-
Gallipoli
The slender peninsula that forms the northwestern side of the Dardanelles, across the water from the town of Çanakkale, is called Gallipoli. For a millennium it has been the key to İstanbul - the navy that could force the straits had a good chance of capturing the capital of the Eastern European world.
Many fleets have tried to do so. Most, including the mighty Allied fleet mustered in WW1, have failed. Today, the Gallipoli battlefields are peaceful places covered in scrubby brush, pine forests and fields. But the battles fought here nearly a century ago still live in the memories of many people, both Turkish and foreign, and the annual pilgrimage that Australians and …
reviewed
-
Ephesus Ancient City
The best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean is Ephesus. Note that there are two entry points to the ancient site, roughly 3km apart. You may prefer to be dropped off at the upper entrance (the southern gate or güney kapısı) so that you can walk back downhill through the ruins and out through the lower main entrance.
To avoid the heat of the day, come early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when it's less crowded with tour groups. If you can, avoid public holidays altogether. Note that the terrace houses cost extra (and take about an hour) to visit. If your interest in ruins is slight, half a day may suffice, but real ruins buffs will want to m…
reviewed
-
Hierapolis
The ruins of Hierapolis brilliantly evoke life in the early centuries of the modern era. Here pagan, Roman, Jewish and early Christian elements evolved into a distinctly Anatolian whole.
Founded around 190 BC by Eumenes II, king of Pergamum, Hierapolis was a cure centre that prospered under the Romans and even more under the Byzantines, when it gained a large Jewish community and an early Christian congregation. Sadly, recurrent earthquakes regularly brought disaster and after a major tremor in 1334 the city was abandoned.
Start near the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum to find the ruined Byzantine church and the foundations of a Temple of Apollo. As at Didyma and Delphi, the …
reviewed
-
D
Library of Celsus
Celsus Polemaeanus was the Roman governor of Asia Minor early in the 2nd century AD. According to an inscription in Latin and Greek on the side of the front staircase, his son, Consul Tiberius Julius Aquila, erected this library in his father's honour after the governor's death in 114. Celsus was buried under the western side of the library.
The library held 12,000 scrolls in niches around its walls, making it the third-largest library in the ancient world after Alexandria and Pergamum. A 1m gap between the inner and outer walls protected the valuable books from extremes of temperature and humidity. The library was originally built as part of a complex, and architectural s…
reviewed
-
E
Plutonium
Near the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum stand a ruined Byzantine church and the foundations of a Temple of Apollo. As at Didyma and Delphi, the temple had an oracle tended by eunuch priests. The source of inspiration was an adjoining spring called the Plutonium, dedicated to Pluto, god of the underworld.
As if to confirm its direct line to Hades, the spring gave off toxic vapours, lethal to all but the priests, who would demonstrate its powers by tossing small animals and birds in to watch them die.
To find the spring, walk up towards the Roman theatre, enter the first gate in the fence on the right, then follow the path down to the right. To the left, in front of the big, …
reviewed
-
F
Museum of Underwater Archaeology
The space in the Castle of St Peter that was once used to store booty collected during underwater archaeology missions, now houses Bodrum's Museum of Underwater Archaeology. It is arguably the most important museum of its type in the world, a veritable lesson in how to bring ancient exhibits to life. Items are creatively displayed and well lit, and information panels, maps, models, drawings, murals, dioramas and videos all help to animate them.
It's undoubtedly one of the best museums in Turkey, not to mention the Mediterranean (and could teach some of the cupboard-like Victorian museums in the West a thing or two!).
The views from the battalions are spectacular and worth …
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Sacred Way
From the Great Theatre, walk south along the marble-paved Sacred Way, also known as the Marble Way, noting the remains of the elaborate water and sewerage systems beneath the paving stones, and the ruts made by wheeled vehicles (which were not allowed to drive down Harbour St). The large open space on the right was the 110-sq-m agora (marketplace) dating back to 3BC and once the heart of Ephesus' business life. It would have been surrounded by a colonnade and shops selling food and craft items.
Note the fine carvings of gladiators that survive along the Sacred Way.
On the left as you approach the end of the street is an elaborate building, which used to be called a brothe…
reviewed
-
G
Great Theatre
At the eastern end of Harbour St is the Great Theatre, reconstructed by the Romans between AD 41 and AD 117. The first theatre on the site dated from the Hellenistic city of Lysimachus, and many features of the original building were incorporated into the Roman structure, including the ingenious design of the cavea (seating area), capable of holding 25,000 people.
Each successive range of seating up from the stage is pitched more steeply than the one below, thereby improving the view and acoustics for spectators in the upper seats.Among other modifications, the Romans enlarged the stage, pitched it towards the audience and built a three-storey decorative stage wall behind…
reviewed
-
H
Basilica of St John
St John is said to have come to Ephesus twice: once between AD 37 and AD 48 with the Virgin Mary, and again in AD 95 towards the end of his life, when he wrote his gospel on Ayasuluk Hill. A 4th-century tomb was believed to house his remains, so in the 6th century Emperor Justinian (r 527–65) erected a magnificent church, the Basilica of St John, on top of it.
Earthquakes and marauders turned the site into a heap of rubble until a century ago when restoration began; virtually all of what you see now is restored. In its day it was considered a near-marvel and attracted thousands of medieval pilgrims. Even today it still draws busloads of 'holy site' tourists during the se…
reviewed
-
travertines
Most people come to Pamukkale to see its famous travertines. Walking around them is enjoyable even now that access is restricted - though you'll never get a photo quite like the ones on the postcards. The route up to the northern entrance is about 3km long but is on tarmac, whereas from the southern ticket kiosk you have to walk 250m barefoot up to the plateau, along a calcium path through the travertines themselves. Tiny ridges of calcium make this tough on tender feet.
Since the site is open 24 hours you can visit for sunrise and sunset. Some pensions also organise trips to view the Hierapolis theatre and the travertines after dark.
You can swim in the Antique Pool in Hi…
reviewed
-
I
Ephesus Museum
This excellent museum houses a striking collection of artefacts recovered from the ancient city. The first gallery is dedicated to finds from the Terrace Houses of Ephesus, including scales, jewellery and cosmetic boxes. This is also where you'll find the famous effigy of Priapus, the Phallic God, as seen plastered on every postcard from İstanbul to Antakya. No doubt to avoid offending delicate sensibilities, it's displayed inside a darkened case. Press the light to see him illuminated in all his rampant glory.
The other display areas hold collections of coins, funerary goods, and plenty of statuary. There's an entire room dedicated to sculpted representations of Eros, an…
reviewed
-
J
French Tower
Inside the Castle of St Peter is the French Tower where lie the remains of a great and powerful woman. Though popularly said to belong to Queen Ada (a Carian princess who died sometime between 360 BC and 325 BC aged 29, and whose tomb was discovered by Turkish archaeologists in 1989), there is no concrete evidence for this. Buried with a gold crown, necklace, bracelets, rings and an exquisite wreath of gold myrtle leaves, her identity doesn't lessen the incredible value of the find.
Using modern reconstruction techniques, experts at Manchester University have modelled what she might have looked like; a video in Turkish explains their work.
reviewed
-
K
Temple of Artemis
Ephesus used to earn fabulous sums of money from pilgrims paying homage to the Ephesian fertility avatar of Artemis. The Temple of Artemis, at the western end of Selçuk, was in its day the largest in the world, eclipsing even the Parthenon at Athens, and thus earning a spot on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Today, you're more likely to wonder where it all went. Only one of its original 127 columns remains, often as not topped by a stork's nest; a poignant testament to the transitory nature of human achievement. Still, it's a lovely tranquil place, the enormous pillar giving you some indication of the vast size of the temple.
reviewed
-
Upper Ephesus
Like any city in the ancient world, the first structure to welcome visitors was always a bathhouse; in Ephesus' case it was known as the Varius Baths. Baths were placed at all of a city's main entrances, as it was customary to wash oneself clean of any harmful agents acquired during the arduous journey. But baths were also a social place, like a hamam, where friends and new acquaintances would hang out, scrub themselves clean and even get massages.
Fresh as a daisy? Good. Now it's time to move into the city's legislative district, which was anchored by a large square known as the Upper Agora. It was here that politicos would get together to share the latest news and spread…
reviewed
-
Church of the Virgin Mary
The Ephesus car park is ringed with çay bahçesis (tea houses), restaurants and souvenir shops, and to the right of the road are the ruins of the Church of the Virgin Mary, also called the Double Church. The original building was a museum, a Hall of the Muses - a place for lectures, teaching and debates. Destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt as a church in the 4th century. Later it served as the site of the third Ecumenical Council (AD 431) which condemned the Nestorian heresy.
Over the centuries several other churches were built here, somewhat obscuring the original layout.
reviewed
-
Fortress & Çeşme Museum
The Genoese fortress, whose dramatic walls dominate the town centre, was built in the 16th century and repaired by Sultan Beyazıt, son of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror (Mehmet Fatih), to defend the coast from attack by pirates. Later the Knights of St John of Jerusalem based on Rhodes also made use of it. The battlements offer excellent views of Çeşme but otherwise the interior is disappointingly empty. The one exception is the north tower, which houses the Çeşme Museum (Çeşme Müzesi), displaying some archaeological finds from nearby Erythrae.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
L
İzmir Ethnography Museum
A bit more engaging than the Archaeology Museum next door is the İzmir Ethnography Museum. Originally built in 1831 as the St Roche Hospital, this lovely old four-storey stone building houses colourful displays (including dioramas, photos and information panels) demonstrating local arts, crafts and customs. You'll learn about everything from camel wrestling, pottery and the task of tin-plating to felt-making, embroidery and the art of making those curious little blue-and-white 'evil eye' beads. Other displays include weaponry, jewellery and beautiful illustrated manuscripts.
reviewed
-
M
Citadel
Ayasuluk Hill offers fine views of the sites surrounding the Basilica of St John. The hilltop citadel to the north was constructed by the Byzantines in the 6th century, rebuilt by the Seljuks and restored in modern times. There is a Seljuk mosque and a ruined church inside but the citadel remains closed since part of the wall collapsed. Restoration work is under way and it should eventually reopen, though lack of funding appears to be holding it up currently.
As at Ephesus, you may be approached to buy 'ancient' coins, which despite their grimy appearance are modern.
reviewed
-
N
İzmir Archaeology Museum
İzmir's Archaeology Museum is a short, unsignposted walk up the hill from Konak. It contains a fine collection of Greek and Roman artefacts. The displays are a little dry in places, but look out in particular for the beautifully decorated sarcophagi, the head of a gigantic statue of Domitian that once stood at Ephesus, and the impressive frieze depicting the funeral games from the mausoleum at Belevi (250 BC).
To get here, exit the metro and at the crossroads head left up the hill towards the red-tiled, grand building half way up the hill.
reviewed
-
O
Crisler Library
Although not technically a 'sight', the Crisler Library is a wonderfully calm haven for those interested in learning more about Ephesus and the region's rich history. The library is the result of a bequest from a distinguished American biblical scholar, archaeologist and Harvard graduate, B Cobbey Crisler. Proving to be a terrific source of information on ancient, classical, biblical and Islamic history, it also boasts a lecture program, conference facilities, a well-stocked bookshop and a very informal cafe.
reviewed
-
P
Roman baths
Beyond the Arch of Domitian you come to the ruins of the Roman baths, then to the Appian Way of Hierapolis, an extraordinary necropolis (cemetery), extending several kilometres to the north, with many striking, even stupendous, tombs in all shapes and sizes. In particular, look out for a cluster of circular tombs, supposedly topped with phallic symbols in antiquity.
In ancient times Hierapolis was a place where the sick came for a miracle cure, but the size of the necropolis suggests the local healers had mixed success.
reviewed
