Selcuk, Turkey: more than just Ephesus

So long Nepal, hello Turkey! We are seriously loving us some Turkey—the food is fabulous, the culture is rich, and the waters are a robust mix of just about every shade in the spectrum between blue and green. Just what the doctor ordered.

We flew into Istanbul; you'll have to forgive me for saving the biggest city in Turkey for last as it is both our first and last stop on the Turkey circuit. With that, we'll start off with our second stop: the small town of Selçuk (pronounced "sell-chook").

Library of Celsus in Ephesus

Ephesus

There's really no question what the main draw in town is: the ruins of Ephesus (Efes to the locals). Ephesus lays claim to the largest, most well preserved Roman ruins in Turkey and draws crowds commensurate with such distinction—for those who only see one set of ruins in Turkey, this is the most likely candidate.

While most package tours will make a day trip out of Ephesus from God knows where, the independent traveler's consensus is to stay in the nearest town: Selçuk.

The sheer scale of Ephesus is remarkable. It was a city, after all, and not a small one at that. The estimated population of Ephesus in its prime is 250,000, a full five times that of the current population of Selçuk.  And to think, they've only uncovered about 25% of it!

Streets of Ephesus

This fact is even more astonishing once you actually see the place for yourself—as-is, it will take you at least a good hour for even a quick run through, although that might require some actual running. I'd recommend 3-4 hours to do it justice.

One of the most amazing things here is that the overall city is already intact to the point that you can actually imagine it in its heyday. There are vestiges of homes, main roads, public toilets... even proper drainage facilities! That's right, this means that ancient Romans mastered what still eludes Indian engineers to this day. (I kid, but it's true)

Library entrance

The two most well-preserved edifices unearthed here have to be the library and the theater.

The library facade is just massive, supposedly designed to appear as if it could hold even more than its original 13,500 scroll capacity. Sounds like the architect was a tad bit insecure.

There are two theaters, the larger of which is supposed to be the biggest still standing. It is also used for performances to this day, as signaled by the modern flooring laid over the original stone.

Perched atop the smaller of two theaters

As we soon found out, Turkey has mastered the art of nickel-and-diming for add-ons. Ephesus is no different—in addition to the 25 TL entrance fee, they try to squeeze another 15 TL out of you for the audio guide and then 15 TL more to see the terraced housing. We got neither and were satisfied. If you leave really thirsting for more, the Ephesus museum in town is supposed to be nice for 10 TL.

Ephesus was also a city of biblical importance. Unless you believe Dan Brown, this is where the apostle John took Mary to live out their final days and write his Gospel of John.

If all this interests you, check out St. John's Basilica in Selçuk. The house of Mary is also up the hill, but is quite the hike coming from town.

But wait, there's more!

The cozy streets of Şirince

Şirince

If you have an afternoon to spare, I'd highly recommend hopping a short 20-minute ride up to the wine village of Şirince. Take the dolmuş ("dull mush," Turkish for minibus) from the Selçuk otogar (bus station).

Along with the standard red, white and rose varietals, Şirince wineries offer a wide selection of fruit wines. We sampled strawberry, kiwi, apple an blackberry, to name a few, and even took a free tour of the factory. In all honesty, Turkish wine isn't the world's greatest, but free samples always taste better!

More free samples? How can you say 'no' to this guy??

Other than the wine, this quaint little village has excellent views with which it attempts to foist its overpriced boutique hotels upon unsuspecting tourists. Looking beyond this and the endless knickknack booths, we enjoyed just taking in the picturesque views while walking the steep streets up to the church near the top (for those that care, this one belongs to John the Baptist).

The virgin Mary: making tea taste better since 0 A.D.

We spent a good half day here, but it might be a little too close to home if you're used to European wine country. Spending a morning in Selçuk and the afternoon in Şirince sounds about right to me.

Other than that, Pamukkale is close enough to reach in three hours and thus day-trippable, but we opted to stay a night so we could see the sunset.

Recommended accommodation: Atilla's Getaway

We could not recommend Atilla's Getaway enough! Both the dorms and private rooms looked nice, and an extra 5 euro gets you a fabulous home-cooked breakfast and dinner every day. It is here that my love affair with menemen began. (I hope Akemi understands!)

Mmmenemen!

It's a little out of town, but they offer free shuttles from the otogar. This minor inconvenience conveniently places Atilla's within walkable distance of Ephesus—there's a quite pleasant path that cuts right behind the rear gate and drops you at the ruins in about 40 minutes. Just ask the staff for directions.

Also, if you were interested in Mary's house, this might be the easiest way to see it. Just turn left instead of right when you hit the main road.

Yes, this is what it looks like every night

Atilla's Getaway

Phone: +90 (0) 232 892 3847
E-mail: info@atillasgetaway.com
HP: http://www.atillasgetaway.com

And there you have it! from Selçuk,  we hopped the train over to Pamukkale via Denizli. More on that next time.

Now all I need to do is catch up on photos! More on Flickr to come soon.