Wondrous days in Ephesus

Ephesus is a must trip for travelers for severalreasons, the main onesto visit the house of the Virgin Mary,revisit the place where St. Paul began his third journey to Asia Minor, and seethe ruins of what was once a city of splendor.

To most Catholics the trip to Ephesus is highlighted by a visit to the House of the Virgin Mary, about 7 kilometers from Selcuk, considered to have been established based on the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich. Our group of women from media, invited by the Turkish Flour, Yeast and Ingredients Promotion Group to visit Turkey, went along with the multitude of tourists from many parts of the world to see where the mother of Jesus was said to have been brought there by her son John, to spend the last years of her life. Three popes have visited the tiny two-room house of concrete.

After quiet meditation, we hied off to wash our faces at three fountains — actually piped waterfrom a mountain source — signifying health, love, and money. Most of us wished for the third. There isa fourth fountain where Muslims who also paid homage to Mama Mary, washed their hands, face and feet before entering Mary’s home.

On the wall outside the home, visitors inserted notes in crevices, making wishes, prayers and petitions.

To better appreciate the place of Ephesus in the rise and fall of civilizations, libraries and the Internet offer a vast array of literature. The splendor and downfall of Ephesus under different historical periods as the written word reports it, were caused by battling armies and earthquakes, leaving the watching world only remnants that still cause modern-day travelers to gape in wonder.

Wikipedia writes ofEphesus as an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometers southwest of present-day Selçuk in ?zmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek periodit was one of the 12 cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. According to estimates,Ephesus hada population of 33,600 to 56,000 people during the Romanperiod, making it the third largest city of Roman Asia Minor after Sardis and Alexandria Troas.

The city was famous for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one ofthe seven wonders of the ancient world. In 268 AD, the Temple was destroyed or damaged in a raid by the Goths. It may have been rebuilt or repaired. Emperor Constantine rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. A mob destroyed the temple in 401 AD, followed by an earthquake in 61 AD. The city’s importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River.

In Selcuk, wehad a view of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest building of the ancient world. The temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caysrus.

The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Anddroklos, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, king Kadros.According to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality. (“A fish and a board will show you the way.”)

Ephesus was one ofthe seven churches of Asia cited in the Book of Revelation.

Scholars tell of Paul having stayed in Ephesus for three months, then returned in the fall of 54 AD where he stayed for three years. He found Ephesus asthe key to the western provinces of Asia Minor. Here “a great door and effectual” was opened to him, and the church was established and strengthened by his diligent labors there. From Ephesus the gospel spread abroad “almost throughout all Asia.” The word “mightily grew and prevailed” despite all the opposition and persecution he encountered.

What amazes is that the spread of Christianity seems to have halted, as today, 95 per cent of Turkey is made up of Muslims, the rest Christians and Jews.

Our media group went on a two-hour walking tour of15 to 20 per cent of theRoman ruins excavated byarcheologists.The journalistswalked under a searing sun, admiring, or clucking at the sight of a once agora market, a section where slaves were traded, temples and monuments, a section for the wealthy population,a library that is second only to the great library of Alexandria, and an amphitheater that seated25,000 people.

The open air theater wasused initially for drama but during later Roman times, gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage; the first archeological evidence of a gladiator graveyard was found in May 2007 . There isa street of brothelswith tiles bearing the names and addresses ofprostitutes.

We had a view of the once revered temple of Artemis in the town of Selcuk, one of the Seven wonders of the World and the largest building of the ancient world. The temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caysrus.

The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Anddroklos, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, king Kadros.Accoding to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality. (“A fish and a board will show you the way.”)

Our first lunch at Ephesus was at Bizim Ev, a fascinatingrestaurant wherethe hungry traveler makes a selection from an assortment ofdishes of lamb, roasted vegetables and stews and salad. We ate out in the open, under the shade of grape arbors.

For the evening, we stayed at Kismet, which stands on a tiny peninsula with a splendid view of the ocean. The place was once a villa, transformed into a boutique hotel, its walls lined with framed photos of prominent guests, includingmembers of royalty and former US President Jimmy Carter.

Another memorable lunch we had wasin Sirince Sedir Manati & Borek Evi. I had the best lamb chop ever, and plates of vegetables were aplenty, to the delight ofmy Philippine STAR colleague Marianne Go. Then we trooped down to the tiny village where vendors ofnarrow streets sold all kinds of wares, from garments to wines and olive oil,body lotions and trinkets. We then paused to gaze at the hills where stood, looking like a quilt,reconstructed individual houses.

We clambered back up to the open-air restaurant where a Black Forest cake awaited us. Rina David of Inquirer had learned from Facebook of my birthdate, and the best tour coordinator we had, Erhan Sahin of the Ankara-based GNG Travel Agency, and our own Daisy Sabangan, of CID Inc. (formerly Corporate Image Dimensions), the loveliest ofp.r. practitioners,quickly but quietly arranged to make my “coming of age” in Ephesus a happy occasion.

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