Efes, As In The Beer

The lady at the pension gives myself and two others a lift to ancient Greco- Roman city of Ephesus this Morning. I had to laugh, as a small group of Germans were already making their exit as I arrived- it's 9.20am. They probably needed to get back to the beach and reclaim the towels from the sun loungers. The morale is to get here early, even if it's just to see see the look of consternation from our northern neighbours, as you beat them in to the queue. It's certainly busy. Within the first 20 minutes, we have a profusion of tour groups crawling all over the site.

Even amongst all the crowds, it still difficult not to admire what the eyes are seeing. The place is tremendous. You really get a feel for the city, walking along the avenues past mosaics, statues and buildings. One of the best places to visit is the library, where ,rumour has it, an underground tunnel ran to a nearby brothel. Some things never change. Well, maybe today's excuse would be more "I'm just off to watch the match", rather than "I need to see if Bill Oddie's latest book on Reed Warblers is back in stock." The city was once the capital of the Roman empire, pre- Constantinople days, and, even looking at it now, you feel it would have lived up to it's billing. Only the very wealthy actually lived in the centre, with the riff raff confined to the periphery.

The emperors certainly lived here and erected their fair share of statues (some for themselves). Walking down from the top entrance, you get a sweeping view of the main avenues and its' easy to connotate what things might have been like. Towards the lower main gate there is an open theatre that would have seated almost 30,000 people. The acoustics there are amazing as one tour leader inadvertently demonstrates. He begins talking to one of his group and I can just about make out what is said from the highest, and furthest away, seat in the house.

Walking back to the nearby town, I make a slight detour for another heavyweight of world history. Just slightly off the highway stands the remains of one of the former ancient wonders of the world- The Temple Of Artemis. The Temple was built to worship a deity that was temporarily fashionable at the time. It was rumoured to be more than a match for any of the other six wonders, even the Statue of Zeus, but time has not been kind to it, and there is very little to see these days. A large, solitary column has been resurrected from the ruins, and upon it irreverently sits the largest bird's nest I have ever seen. In fact it looks like it could be a pterodactyl's. At the other end of site lies what looks like a section of the old building itself. It's walls do nothing more than hold some casual water that ducks and geese are nonchalantly feeding in. I pretty much have the place to myself with only a tiny overspill of the many tourists from nearby Ephesus bothering to attend. Despite the fact you have to use your imagination here, I can't help thinking that an ancient wonder site should never be passed up on, even though I managed to do it once myself. Still haven't given up on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, either.

The final historical stop of today is St. John's Cathedral. According to popular religious belief, the gospel St John came to these parts sometime after Jesus' death to avoid persecution. It is also alleged that The Virgin Mary accompanied him, having been entrusted her by Jesus. It is around these parts that John supposedly penned his contribution to the Bible, before dying on a mountain top at the ripe old age of 100 years. He was buried on a hillock, where, eventually, the newly converted Roman Emperor Constantine subsequently built a great cathedral in John's honour. Like many other constructions in this area, a series of earthquakes destroyed what had been created, as well as what replaced it. There isn't much of the basilica standing now, but if it was erect in its entirety, it would be the seventh largest cathedral in the world today.

Looking down from the important basilica, onto the city and it's surrounds, I take in the area of ancient Ephesus city, the remains of an ancient wonder, and a famous mosque next door. I don't imagine I will ever be surrounded by such a variety and richness of history ever again.

Fully back in an evening of the 21st century, I wander along the streets of Selcuk. I meet three strikingly similar middle aged brothers and a former carpet salesmans out walking his young daughter. All are keen to approach me and say a warm welcome to their country. Today has been a special day. All I need to do now is find out the name of that scrabble like game. This place is incredible. All most people seem to do is play games, and drink tea.