Selçuk and Ephesus

We left Izmir and started to head for Selçuk and Ephesus.

Ephesus is an ancient city, its on most people’s itinerary for visiting Turkey. You could easily spend a whole day there if you wanted to, its vast.

Selçuk is very close to The Ephesus site and there are a few park ups there where you can stay the night, including the Ephesus museum car park . You are not allowed to stay the night in the car park for Ephesus. For this reason we headed to Selçuk first.

Selçuk is a nice little town that has a lot going for it, numerous restaurants, the Ephesus Archaeological museum and the Temple of Artemis.

It doesn’t really matter if you visit the museum first or the site first. We bought a joint ticket for both which did work out slightly cheaper.

We had arranged to meet ’The New Nomads’ whilst we were there. They are an American couple who we’d been chatting to on instagram. They were on their way out of Turkey and had given us loads of helpful tips. They were heading to the car park we were at.

Whilst we were waiting we went for a walk to go and see the last remaining column from The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world.

On the way we saw another British van parked in the road. It was a similar size and style to our van so we decided to knock on the door! We chatted for a while and then they invited us in for a coffee, they were Dave and Steph Harris with their 2 children and their dog. Whilst we were there I had a text from the American couple we were meeting to say they were in the car park and going to the nearby cafe for lunch! We decided we should go and meet them before going to see the Temple of Artemis . Before leaving we arranged to meet ‘The Harris’s’ in the evening and go out for dinner with them.

We went back found the people we were meeting, David and Diane. We sat chatting to them for around an hour. They were coming to the end of their 90 days in Turkey so after seeing us they were slowly making their way towards Bulgaria.

We said our goodbyes and once again set off to see the last remaining pillar of The Temple of Artemis. Hopefully seeing me sat at the bottom of it will give you an idea of how tall it actually is.

If you are in the area it is definitely worth the 15 minute walk to go and see it. At the time of writing this there is no admission fee.

It was the first marble temple and originally it had 127 marble columns! They were approximately 60 feet high (just over 18 metres) and the site was the size of a football pitch.

As we were parked in Selçuk we visited the museum before heading to The Ephesus site the following day. The photos below are some of what we saw in the museum.

That evening we went out for dinner with ‘The Harris’s as arranged. We found a really nice restaurant that also had fish which was a definite bonus for me. Fish and vegetarian food is not always easy to find in Turkey

After dinner they came back to ours for a night cap. We laughed and they said it’s not every day that strangers knock on your door and then you end up going out for dinner with them.

The following morning we felt a bit hung over when we headed over to the Ephesus site.

Ephesus

Ephesus is open all year round and is one of the most visited places in Turkey with more than 2 million visitors a year.

Opening hours vary slightly in summer and winter and also if any religious holidays. In April 2023 we paid 400TL ( around £13.50 or €15 ). The price went up at the beginning of April, the start of the summer season.

It is extra to see the terraced houses, these are 7 houses owned by the richest Ephesians. Archaeologists have been excavating them and it gives you a real insight into how the rich once lived .

Ephesus has 2 different entrances, the upper and the lower gates . If you enter at the Upper Gate you will be going downhill, although we did go up again to exit .

The site itself is huge and and 2nd in size only to Rome. it is the best preserved Roman city of the region.

I have decided include some highlights from Ephesus as it would be impossible to include everything .

The thing everyone wants to see when they get to Ephesus is Celcus Library. It was built as a memorial for Julius Celcus Poleameanus by his son in the 1st Century AD.

The library has been restored a few times after being burnt down and also affected by earthquake damage.

As you walk down the slope from the upper entrance you will see the library, a very impressive 2 storey building .

It was in fact the 3rd largest library in the ancient world. Here ‘s some of the many photos we took.

The Bouleuterion was where council meetings took place as well as musical performances and contests. The building was erected around A D 100 and originally had a roof. As you can see it is pretty big.

The public latrine could be reached from the covered “Academy Street” The free public toilet served the citizens as well as the visitors .

The latrines resemble how our toilets look today, except there was absolutely no privacy and they were a communal concept and a place to socialise! It was common to do your business amongst others and catch up with all the local gossip.

If you are going to Ephesus I would definitely recommend going to the terraced houses. There is an extra cost involved but in my opinion it is worth doing whilst you are there .

The terraced houses are located on a slope opposite Hadrian temple. Also known as “The houses of the rich”, they are luxury Roman villas! The excavations of the terraced houses is an ongoing project that started in 1960. Here are some photos .

There is so much to see at Ephesus, as said earlier it is too much to put into a blog post. Here it is really just a taste. If you can go and see it, you won’t be disappointed.

Here are a few more photos from around the site.

I think April was a good time to visit Ephesus as it wasn’t too hot then.

We left Ephesus late afternoon and started to head towards Pamukkale with a stop on route.

Our next post will start with Pamukkale.

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