Wonders of the world

We woke up in Kuşadası and the weather was, again, stunning.

Kuşadası, fondly known as Ada by its inhabitants, is named for the island we could see from our hotel, which I noticed immediately because of its badass castle. The hotel also offered a view out across the Aegean and the constant in and out of cruise ships.

The island and, through the haze, Samos

Our first stop was to be the House of the Virgin Mary.

"Today is the feast of the assumption of the Virgin Mary," Serina said, when we were on the bus.

"What's that?"

"In the Catholic church, it's the day that Mary was taken up into heaven."

"Does Ahmet know that?"

Ahmet was our tour guide, and he did not. We stopped to get some water and other supplies and he called ahead to a colleague and found out that the road to the House was full of pilgrims, completely cut off.  "So we will go to Ephesus first."

"What do you know about Ephesus?" Serina asked on the bus. "Teach me."

I had, through the visits to Troy and Pergamon, acquired something of a reputation as an insufferable know-it-all. But it was nice that someone would embrace this and ask what I knew.

"Literally nothing," I said. "Except that the Temple of Artemis used to be there."

"What's that?"

"A temple? Dedicated to Artemis."

"What happened to it?"

"Earthquakes. And the Romans."

Always the Romans

Ephesus, as it turned out, was also a little busy. Every tour group which had planned to go to the House had rerouted and converged on the ancient city. Ahmet did his best to stay calm, but he was stunned.

The heat and the crowds made the site uncomfortable, and we pushed through our tour. After a brief wander through the city's prestigious Hercules Gates and along the market street of the agora, we saw the public latrines.

Because everyone loves latrines

"They did not flush, the water was always running," Ahmet said.

"Where are the women's toilets?" somebody asked.

"We don't know. Let's move on to see the library and the brothel."

The library of Celsus

The library reminded me of the Market Gate of Miletus from the Pergamon Museum, but more impressive; the statues and many of the inscriptions could be seen. Ahmet told us that there was a time when this contained 12,000 scrolls. It also served as the tomb of Celsus, the governor who paid for it to be built.

Statues on the library

After the difficulty in getting into and around Ephesus, we were due for a break. We did not get one.

"This is the brothel, or the love house," Ahmet said with a grin. "We are standing above the second agora, the harbour market," there was no water in sight. The brothel, he told us, was advertised by a sign in the agora; a broken heart and a foot with a long middle toe would point potential customers in the right direction.

"I wanted to take you down the Marble Road but I have just noticed that it has been closed so... we might just have to carry on to the amphitheater."

Tough crowd

The amphitheater was... it was huge.

Really very big.

"Will we get to see the Temple of Artemis?" I asked as we passed the baths.

"It is stones in a field and a statue," Ahmet said. "We saw most of it in the Hagia Sophia."

Ah the Romans. Never let anything go to waste.

More things taken by Germans

In Berlin I visited the Pergamon Museum. The primary attraction of the museum are a pile of statues taken from the Temple of Zeus (and the stairs, pillars and altar) from Pergamon in Asia Minor. I never gave much consideration as to whether I would see the place from whence they came.

The view from Pergamon

The same day we went to Troy we took the long, winding road up to Pergamon, high above the countryside. Pergamon was built as a center of religion and culture, rather than commerce. It's position made it difficult to get to, but it had rich patrons and attracted the elite of Asia Minor.

The view of no river

Like the other ancient cities we visited, Pergamon suffered a number of earthquakes. These, combined with the silting of the Caicus and the growth of Ephesus, led to its demise.

Pergamon was the first place I have seen a proper Acropolis. Though the altar was taken by the Germans, the layout of the Acropolis is still clear today. I was interested in the way the marble structures were built; the foundations of the building were of heavy stone, with a marble facade, and not of solid marble slabs.

Once I saw this, it seemed obvious. Who would build foundations out of marble?

Acropolis: Note the change in colour of the stones

But the decorative sections, the pillars and carvings, were all done in marble.

It took us, in our bus, a long time to wind back and forth across the mountain to reach the city; I can only imagine what a hassle it would have been in ancient times. Nevertheless, the view from the top was stunning. If the day had been less hazy, we might have seen to the sea.

Pillars and the marble facade

It was an eight hour day, with a lot of time spent in the sun and the heat, and we were all exhausted when we reached Kuşadası. The most impressive ancient city, Ephesus, had to wait for the morning.

Horses for courses

There are about nine layers of Troy buried where Troy used to be. The one Homer wrote about is the seventh Troy (that's seven up, not seven down). There were a couple more built on top, Roman cities which decreased in importance as Constantinople became a power.

Walls at Troy, made of stone

The seventh layer was also the largest, and showed evidence of slaughter and fire. Other cities were destroyed by earthquakes and cultural change as people migrated from the east. Each layer shows different building materials and technology as the people living there progressed.

The view from the site of Athena's Temple. There used to be water visible from here.

The surrounding country side has also changed, primarily due to the silting of ancient waterways. Troy once sat overlooking the Hellespont, and it was this position which gave it power over trade in ancient times.

I took a lot of photos of wells

The size of the walls, at all levels of the site, is emphasised by the support structures - the huge foundations, gates and ramps which allowed daily life to go in in and around the walled city. It was again testament to what mankind can achieve with nothing more than math, determination and limitless free labour.

Slavery!

All the ancient cities we visited were places of trade and culture. The culture was demonstrated by the amphitheaters, where people could meet to discuss politics or matters of importance and so on.

People, not slaves.

And of course, no visit to Troy would be complete without viewing the Schliemann Pit, the spot where German 'archaeologist' and treasure-hunter, Heinrich Schliemann, dug through layer after layer of Troy until he found the treasure he was certain was left in the stories of Homer's stories. These jewels were, as it happens, from the second Troy, and therefore predated Homer's Troy by several thousand years.

Really it's just a huge hole.

But that's okay, because he found items of vital historical importance. Which he took back to Germany. And his wife took to Russia.

Our guide told us that Turkey has asked Russia if they could have the treasure from Troy back.

Russia said, "No."

Bergen by foot

"I want to get up the hill to take some photos," I told the guy at the counter. "Can I walk up?"
"Of course," he said. "There are lots of paths."
"What's the best way?"
He shrugged. "Go that way," he said, pointing to the hill. "If you get lost, make sure you're going up."

Turned out to be pretty good advice

At the top I found what at first appeared to be a children's park but turned out to be the setting of a low-budget horror film (I assume) with carved trolls and heads on stakes peering out at every turn.

Gah!

A shower and breakfast, and the rest of the day was spent exploring. I went to the university and saw the foundations of the St Catherine Church and Hospital.

The first women's hospital in Norway

I crossed a couple of bridges and took a bunch of photos I'm not posting here because they're not really of anything. I was staying at the end of an historical area, a bunch of buildings which, if the information outside them can be believed, are sinking into the fjord.

Bright colours indicate wealth

I was also next to a castle (with lots of families having picnics on the walls, in spite of the rain), a remnant from Bergen's days as a member of the Hanseatic League. One of the major structures within was the Rosencrantz Tower.

No Gildenstern Bridge, sorry

And, of course, Haakon's Hall.

Obviously

My last act for the day was to work out how to get the bus to Stavanger and prepare for the six hour ride.