Day 11: Kusadasi/Ionic Triangle

April 30, 2013

Today we spent the day traveling to three archaeological sites, known in Turkey as the Ionic Triangle. This included the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, and the cities of Miletus and Priene. We learned the differences between the Roman and Greek theaters.  We found some tortoises along the way.   We also went shopping at a grocery store, MIGROS, so that we could have a romantic picnic lunch on the acropolis of Priene. 

Grocery Shopping

Temple of Apollo at Didyma

Turtles!!!

Miletus

Theater

Agora

Baths

Picnic Lunch

Bouloterion

Living quarters

Group picture in front of the Temple of Athena.

 

Theater

Afterwards the whole group experienced the Turkish bath and massages.  If we weren’t friends before, we certainly are now.

Turkish Bath House

Turkish main parlor with a raised central marble platform, called a "belly stone", on which professional masseurs scrubbed and washed us.



A facial

Riding home in the back of the van

Lastly, we want to wish our own Jessica (Doctor) Hassan a very Happy 20th Birthday! As you can see she looks relaxed after the Turkish oil massage.

Day 10: Ephesus

April 29, 2013

Our first stop of the day was at the House of the Virgin Mary.  It sits on top of the hill, overlooking the city of Selcuk, also known as ancient Ephesus.  Some of the students were able to light a candle and/or wrote a wish which could be placed on the wishing wall.

House of the Virgin Mary

Inside the House of the Virgin Mary

Virgin Mary Statue

Lighting candles



Making Wishes

We explored Ephesus, one of the largest and most famous sites of the ancient world.  Among its numerous monuments, we saw the famous Arcadian street, the Hellenistic theater, the Celsius Library and the magnificent façade of the Hadrian Temple built in the Corinthian order.

City Pipelines

The Odeion

State Agora

Ionic architecture

Nike, Goddess of victory

Main Road of Ephesus

Heracles Gate

Trajan Fountain

The Latrines

The Library

Common Agora

Common Agora

Theater

We ate lunch at a Rug Shop. This place has over 10,000 rugs. The rugs consisted either of wool, cotton, or silk.  A guide showed us how the rugs are made, and some of the students had the opportunity to weave a few threads.  Afterwards we were taken to a show room where the employees proceeded to lay out multiple rugs so we could feel them and see the differences in the patterns. 

Silk cocoons

Natural dyes

Next we visited the Basilica of St. John. The church dates to the early Christian period, above which one could see the Selcuk castle.

The last monument we visited was the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world.