My husband Paul and I visited Greece and Turkey this July. We saw so many incredible sights:Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes or Istanbul… I couldn’t decide which place I wanted to write about more! I decided on Ephesus in Turkey as it is one of the greatest ruined cities in the Western world.

Ephesus is a Greek city that has survived many eras. It was first built in about 1,000 B.C. It soon rose to fame as a center for the worship of Cybele, the Anatolian Mother Goddess. The city we see today was founded in the 4th century B.C. by Alexander the Great’s successor, Lysinachus. But it was under the Romans that Ephesus became the chief port on the Aegean. Most of the surviving structures date from this period.

One can walk through the Library of Celsus, the theater, the temple of Hadrian, the Gate of Hercules, the Colonnaded Street lined with Ionic and Corinthian columns. The architecture was mind boggling; it was all so well planned and executed, even though it was created in ancient times. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea! -Dot