Kusadasi - Ephesus

Today in the early hours of the morning we docked in Kusadasi (City of Birds). We set off early and discovered...

Ephesus An ancient city on the Turkish Aegean coast near the modern city of Selçuk. The excavation site is called Efes. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Luckily we have an air-conditioned bus. The temperature today is a hot 38°. We pass the ancient amphitheater with 24,000 seats, where concerts are still held today, and drive to the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary (here a chapel has been built on the remains of the Mother of God's house). In the Gospel of John we read that Jesus on the cross, before his death, entrusted his mother to John and from that hour on he took her with him. John most likely took the Mother of God with him to Ephesus because of the persecutions in Jerusalem.

We made another stop at the Temple of the Goddess Artemis, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

The tomb of John is not far away. After Christianity became the state religion in the late 4th century, a church was built over John's tomb. The stones and marble from the destroyed Temple of Artemis were used for the construction. The church was temporarily used as a mosque. The remains of the minaret at the entrance also date from this period.

We pass numerous fruit plantations. The apricot harvest is complete and now the fig harvest follows. Our tour guide gave us a lot of interesting information, including about the figs...

Male fruits cannot be eaten, only the female fruits are edible
However, the bee only flies to the male trees...what a thing...so that the female ones are not fertilized. The farmers therefore pick the male fruits before fertilization and hang them in nets on the female trees. This way the bee also flies to the female fruits and fertilizes them. Well, it works.