Izmir Turkey and Ephesus

Our time spent sailing on the seas was generally done during the night. So on our 3rd morning, we were eating breakfast while the ship cruised into the harbour of Izmir. Once we had docked, we joined our tour guide on the quayside. Izmir is the 3rd largest city of Turkey but we drove through the city and headed off for our tour to Ephesus.
This was an amazing place to visit. The history of Ephesus is unbelievable and when one walks through this ancient city, one can imagine the people who once lived there and how huge this city must have been.
I am quoting a little of it’s background off a website I found but suggest that if you want to know more on this amazing archaeological site, one should google the information.
This enclosure for archaeological remains at Ephesus elegantly reconciles historic conservation with accessibility for visitors. The site of a succession of great ancient civilizations, Ephesus, on the south-west coast of modern Turkey, embodied a peculiarly fertile synthesis of architecture and culture. In 356BC the Greeks built the Artemesium (a colossal Ionic temple dedicated to Artemis the fertility goddess) which was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. During the 2nd century BC, Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the eastern Roman Empire, famous for its Artemesium, the Library of Celsus and its medical school.
Quoted from Catherine Slessor's Housing History.
Ancient Greek city of Asia Minor, near the mouth of the Menderes River, in what is today West Turkey, South of Smyrna (now Izmir). One of the greatest of the Ionian cities, it became the leading seaport of the region. Its wealth was proverbial. The Greek city was near an old center of worship of a native nature goddess, who was equated with the Greek Artemis, and c.550 B.C. a large temple was built. To this Croesus, who captured the city, contributed.
From Lydian control Ephesus passed to the Persian Empire. The temple was burned down in the 4th cent. B.C., but rebuilding was begun before Alexander the Great took Ephesus in 334. The city continued to thrive during the wars of his successors, and after it passed (133) to the Romans it kept its hegemony and was the leading city of the province of Asia. The great temple of Artemis, or Artemis, called by the Romans the temple of Diana, was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. From c.100 B.C. to c. A.D. 100 Ephesus was the world capital of the slave trade.
The city was sacked by the Goths in A.D. 262, and the temple was destroyed. The seat of a church council in 431, Ephesus was abandoned after the harbor silted up. Excavations (1869-74) of the ruins of the temple brought to light many artifacts. Later excavations uncovered important Roman and Byzantine remains.
Quoted from The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
As we finished our tour and were walking along the harbour street (Arcadiana), they had a reality show on. We watched the Roman guards in all their glamour, wealthy Roman people in traditional dress and a sculptor busy sculpting. It made it all feel so real!!!
I have relied on google here for a lot of the above to be able to explain it but can only say that both Gerard and I thought that this was the most interesting excursion of our whole trip.
To walk through this ancient city gave us the most amazing sense of those ancient days and what a city it must have been.
Absolutely mind blowing.

Katakolon

Our next port of call was Katakolon.
Ships call at the sleepy port of Katakolon at the western edge of the Peloponnese because it's close to the archeological site of Olympia, where the ancient Olympic Games were held. Otherwise, Katakolon is pretty much a one-horse town with a big pier. Obviously it is very tourist orientated with loads of little shops selling curio type things.

Our tour today was of Olympia. Was this an eye opener for Hubby and I? To think that we were walking through one of the most important sanctuaries of ancient Greece.

There is so much history to this archeological site that I advise you to google it for more information. Hubby and I buy books at all these type of places but I cannot bore you all with this. I have found the following to be quite a good summary (titbit) of what Olympia is.

The archeological site is found at the foot of Kronos hill. The Olympic Games originated here in 776 B.C., although the Sanctuary of Olympia dates to the 10th and 9th century B.C. This is also where the Olympic flame of the modern games is lit (using sunlight and a lens). This was amazing for us to see.

All the buildings at Olympia were built either for the early games or to celebrate Zeus and the other gods. Visitors today see the remains of the temples, changing rooms, gymnasia and other buildings, as well as the outdoor stadium where the competitions were held.

Competitors in the ancient games had to be Greek, born free (not slaves) and without criminal convictions. The oldest contests were foot races, but eventually the challenges grew to include warrior games, a pantathalon, wrestling and chariot races. As with the modern games, revived in 1896, the original games took place every four years. But in the ancient games all competitors were male and competed in the nude. The winner's reward was an olive oil branch and a wreath said to be from a tree planted by Hercules.