Greek trip, June 13

Today we were off to Turkey, specifically to Kusadasi, the embarcation point for a trip to Ephesus.  It is considered to be the best preserved classical city of the Mediterranean.  It was famed for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  The many-breasted Lady of Ephesus, identified with Artemis, was venerated there.  It was also a place where St. Paul preached, and was one of the seven churches of Asia Minor cited in Revelations.  The city was the site of several 5th c. Christian councils, and was also the site of a large gladiators' graveyard.  The city was eventually sacked by the Arabs, conquered by the Seljuk Turks in 1090, and be ame part of the Byzantine Empire until 1304.  Eventually they reverted to the Turks, then be ame vassals of the Ottoman Empire in 1390.  It was completely abandoned by the 15th c. And its harbor, once so prominent, silted up.  But there is still much to admire, especially its enormous amphitheatre, the Library of Celsus, agoras for commercial and one for state business, and the current excavation of terraced houses in one part of the complex.

After Ephesus, we had a wonderful stop at a Turkish rug shop, where women were laboriously learning how to weave, and where we were shown some of the most beautiful rugs I have ever seen.  Although I wasn't prepared to buy a rug, I did find a rather incredible gift for Alexandra for her upcoming 26th birthday.

Finally, we went to Patmos, arguably the most beautiful and the best known of the small islands in the Dodecanese.  It was in a cave here that St. John the Divine wrote Revelations, and the monastery commending him, founded in 1088, dominates the island.  We toured both the monastery and the cave site, filled with incredible icons, frescoes, and mosaics before returning to the cruise ship by tender boat.