We depart Istanbul at 11:00 AM on the flight to Izmir which is a 1 hour and 15 minuet trip southwest to the Mediterranean. We are met by our guide Oktay Elseve who turns out to be an excellent guide. We drive directly to Ephesus which is a ancient Greek city, built in the 10th Century on the site of the Azawanian capital during the classic Greek era. The city came under the control of the Roman republic in 129 BC. It features significant ruins including “the Library of Celsus” and a Theater capable of holding 24,000 spectators.

Further in the city we come to the Hadrian Temple dedicated in the 2nd century to Hadrian, Artemis and the people of Ephesus. It was reconstructed in the 4th century. We then come to the Library and finally to the theater with a capacity of 24,000.

We barely scratch the surface of this amazing site of the city that once had a population of 240,000. The city thrived from the beginning of recorded history, declining when the river entrance silted shut, but now serves as a major tourist destination.

Virgin Mary’s home, where she is believed to have spent her last years is located near Ephesus and we pay this site a visit before calling it a day and checking into the Grand Efes Izmir hotel.

On day two of our visit to the Izmir region we start by visiting the ancient healing center, the Asclepieion of Pergamon. This is one of the first known sites dedicated to therapeutics treatment. Starting with a pathway to the complex and including baths, treatment rooms and surgery suits as well as recuperation rooms it was the ancient equivalent to a hospital.

After a great authentic local lunch we travel to the Pergamon Acropolis and Library which is on a hill top accessible by cable car.

The history of Pergamon dates back to 8th century BC and bronze age tools have been found in the area. Clearly Greek and Romans contributed to the city the sits over 1000 feet above the valley, that can be accessed today be cable car. On the hillside is a 10,000 seat theater one of the steepest in the world dating to the 3rd Century BC. On the highest level is the Temple of Trajan built to worship Zeus and Trajan “Gods du Jure” . The ruins of a 200, 000 scroll library is also part of the complex.

This is our last touring stop in Turkey, so its dinner and tomorrow at an ungodly hour we head to Spain.