Ephesus

We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Turkey. We would highly recommend a visit to Turkey for anyone. It is a beautiful country with very friendly people. The recorded history of the area is incredible going back thousands of years.

Part of what made the trip so special is that Andrea and Melissa joined us for a week. John and I toured Istanbul by ourselves. Then Andrea and Melissa joined us while we visited Ephesus, Cappadocia and Parmukkale. For this blog, I’m only going to talk about Ephesus.

The city of Ephesus has been rebuilt five times over the centuries due to fires and earthquakes. According to the guide book it is “the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean.” The earliest recorded information about it was in the 2000 B.C. It was originally founded by Amazons, women warriors. They cut off their left breast in order to be more effective archers. Men were only allowed in the city as eunuch slaves or once a year to procreate. After that brief time, they were killed.

Alexander the Great visited this city in 334 B.C.

The third city of Ephesus was built by the Romans when this area of the world was the Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople as its capital. Ephesus was the capital of 500 towns in Anatolia. At that point in time, it was a port city with a population of 250,00. However, today it is 6 kilometers from the Aegean Sea.

You probably know Ephesus because of the book of Ephesians in the New Testament written by Paul. Paul also visited Ephesus. While preaching he was arrested and imprisoned for three years. When released he was forced to leave the city. What you may not know is that the Apostle John took Mary to Ephesus for her protection. She lived here her final years and is buried here. St. John continued living in Ephesus while writing the Gospel of John. He died and was originally buried there.

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