Ruins In the Rain

In the beginning was the Rain,

And the Rain was with God…

We were woken several times in the night by extremely loud claps of thunder.  We received a torrential downpour overnight.  By morning, it was still overcast with more showers expected.  

The rain had turned our hotel's clear blue pool into a septic tank.

We were glad that we had visited Ephesus the afternoon before.  Unfortunately, we still had plans to see plenty of other outdoor sights and still lacked any rain gear.  Since we were too lazy to hunt for any umbrellas or ponchos in the local stores, we just crossed our fingers and hoped that everything would work out okay.

After eating breakfast and checking out of our hotel, we used Google maps to point us towards the nearby Basilica of St. John.  After driving through several small alleys and dodging several schoolchildren, we turned the corner and found ourselves in the middle of a neighborhood market.  The locals eyed us quizzically, wondering what kind of idiots would take a car down a narrow street full of pedestrians.

The market was teeming with fresh fruits and vegetables.

A pack of stray cats lusted over the fishmonger's wares.

We finally found our way to the Basilica of St. John.  In this site are the last remains of John the Apostle.  After the death of Jesus, he wrote his Gospel, three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation.  As one of Jesus’ youngest disciples, he lived to almost 100 AD, eventually dying in the city of Ephesus.  In the 6^th century AD, the Emperor Justinian had a large church constructed around his tomb.  The entrance fee was about 10 TL ($4) for The Wife and I, The Kids were free.

A small model shows how the Basilica of St. John used to look like.

The Basilica of St. John was converted into a mosque by the Turks in 1330.  Now
that it is a museum, a new mosque has been built at the bottom of the hill below.

In 1402, the cathedral was ransacked  by Tamerlane's mongol army.

Most of the walls and all of the domes were destroyed.

Many of the columns and colonnades still await reconstruction.   

The rain had abated, but there were still
large pools of water that had collected.

We wandered around the remains of the church taking a circuitous route to keep our shoes dry.

Although much of the cathedral lies in ruins, the tomb of St. John is still easily recognizable.

We continued our hike to the nearby Ayasuluk Fotress.  It was originally constructed by the Byzantines around 7^th century A.D.  It has since changed hands to the Seljuk and later the Ottoman Turks.  The walls of the citadel have crumbled over the years.  Since 2009, the outer walls have received a complete restoration, making the fortress look quite impressive on the outside.  

Most of the visitors to the Basilica of St. John's eschew the short hike to the Ayasuluk Fortress.

The Boy enjoys a nice breeze
from within the citadel.

The west gate of the castle and the adjoining structures have been rebuilt.

However, most of the interior structures including this mosque need much more work.

The castle's cistern won't hold much
water with this gaping hole in the wall.

One of the benefits of visiting the Ayasuluk Fortress is the great views of the surrounding areas.

To the west, farmland stretch out towards the Aegean coast.

To the east, we could see our hotel in Selçuk.  

We weren't interested in visiting any of the other religious sites of questionable authenticity such as the “Virgin Mary House” or the “Cave of the Seven Sleepers.”  After we finished our tour of the Basilica of St. John and the Ayasuluk Fortress, we headed eastward to the ancient ruins of Aphrodisias located in the valley formed by the Meander River.  The rain started coming down again pretty hard, but we stayed nice and dry in the car.  

After driving over two hours through some smaller roads and towns, we arrived at our destination. However, the small road into the park was blocked off preventing us from going further.  Instead we had to park in a nearby lot that costs 7 TL ($2.50)

From the parking lot, a free tractor-led "shuttle" transported us to the entrance of the ruins.

Aphrodisias' proximity to a marble quarry made it renowned for its sculptor school.  The high quality of the marble has allowed statues and carvings from this area to survive intact over 2,000 years. 

Several tombs are spread around the entrance of the park.

Although the sky remained overcast, only a few raindrops started coming down.  With some urgency, we hiked around the loop that carries visitors around the ruins of Aphrodisias.  

The green stuff in the Sculptor's Workshop ain't grass.

The Tetrapylon was a monumental gate that greeted visitors to the Temple of Aphrodite.

A lonely road led people away from the center of the city...

...to a massive stadium that could hold about 30,000 people.

Ancient cup holders?

When the city came under Roman rule, the eastern end of the stadium was
converted into an arena.  This allowed for gladiator matches and wild beast fights.

The bouleuterion (council  house) was still in decent condition.  In ancient times, representatives for the city would assemble there to decide public affairs.

I'm pretty sure that the algae and tadpole-infested pond was not part of the original design.

At the Hadrianic Baths, people could ogle at the statue of this
naked god with his junk hanging out while they relaxed in the pool.

The colonnades were decorated with images of bulls...

...and lions.

The Greek letters for "Jesus Christ, Son of God" were combined to form this ichthys symbol.  

Unique faces decorate these stacked-up friezes that await restoration.

The Sebasteion was a shrine dedicated to the
Roman Emperor who was worshiped as a god.

The walls were decorated with images from Roman mythology and historical achievements.

We finished the loop around the ruined city in about an hour.  Visitors to Aphrodisias are strongly recommended to see the on-site museum which houses many of the beautiful sculptures excavated from these ruins.  Unfortunately, our inherent Philistine nature came through.  We spent only a minute inside the Aphrodisias Museum before we decided that we should make a beeline to the exit, as the storm clouds were rolling in.  We made a mad dash back to the “shuttle” just as another downpour arrived.

Overall, the ruins of Aphrodisias are nowhere as reconstructed nor as grand as those in Ephesus.  However, there are a lot less tourist there as well.  This gives Aphrodisias a more peaceful vibe.  Although, The Boy and I enjoyed our visit there, The Wife was not very impressed.

For lunch, we stopped for a late lunch nearby at the Aphrodisias restaurant.  The eatery was built to accommodate busloads of tourists, but we were literally the only ones there.  Perhaps our late-afternoon timing or the hard rain were to explain by the lack of crowds.

Two large dining rooms were completely empty.

The establishment was clean
with a well-maintained garden.

There were no English translations on the menu, so we ordered based on the tiny pictures that accompanied each item.  The food was pretty good and reasonably priced.  Most appetizers were only about $2, and the entrees around $5.50.  I did try some Turkish coffee for the first time in the country.  It tasted like bitter sludge.  The grittiness of the coffee grounds was unappetizing.  After we were finished with most of our plates, we thought that they had forgotten one of the random dishes that we had ordered.  It turned out that it was a dessert pide (Turkish pizza) that was just being served at the end of our meal.  The piece of flatbread was smothered in sweet Tahini, honey, and ground pistachios.  It was a complete mess to eat, but The Wife was in heaven eating it.

A chopped Turkish salad was brought out first.

Karacasu gulu (mini pizzas with minced meat)

Lahmacun (thin dough topped with minced meat)

Izgara Köfte (grilled meatball)

Tahinli balli cevizli (flatbread topped with tahini and honey)

Fresh fruit was served at the end of the meal.

The first and last Turkish coffee I would have on our trip.

Afterwards, we spent almost the next two hours driving through rain and fog as the road led around Babadağ Mountain.  We passed through the large city of Denizli known as one of the main centers for producing towels.   Turkish towels are considered to be the best in the world.  Chances are that if you stay at a high end hotel, their towels were produced in Turkey.  Unfortunately, the nice ones are not that cheap.  They can sell for over $100 for a bath towel.  To see if we could get any we stopped at Varol Tekstil, located right off the main road.  

Indeed they had some nice towels for sale including bed covers, robes, and even designer brands such as Armani and Burberry.  The prices were better than in the United States, but the place was mainly geared towards tourists.  We passed on any towels, as I felt that there were better bargains still out there.

The large number of giant tour buses parked outside should have been a tip off.

Also, all of the prices were listed in US dollars.  This was no place for the locals to grab a bargain.

A few minutes later at 4:30 PM, we arrived at the Hotel Hal-Tur overlooking Pamukkale.  Known as the "cotton castle" in Turkish, this destination is popular for tourists because it contains travertines--limestone terraces created by hot springs.  Pamukkale does not have the only travertines in the world.  There are several others in Iran, China, Croatia, and even in Wyoming.  However, this one in Turkey is the most impressive.  

In ancient times, Greeks and Romans who suffered from chronic ailments and disease would visit these travertines and hot springs to gain relief.  Often, they would live out the rest of their lives in the nearby city of Hierapolis.

Once again, another hotel pool was wasted on a cold, rainy day.

We reserved the quadruple room containing two double beds...

...a bathroom fairly large for Turkey...

...and a huge balcony with a fireplace...

...and a great view of the travertines across the street.

Although the forecast predicted more rain for the rest of the afternoon, the sky was clear and the sun was out.  I decided that we should go ahead and visit the ruins of Hierapolis.  The Wife thought that the plan was idiotic.  One of the owners of the hotel drove our rental car and dropped us off at the far entrance of the ruins at 5 PM.  As we entered through the turnstiles, several tourists were leaving.  A couple of rain drops fell from the sky, but otherwise the weather was still holding up. 

The only map we had of the ruins was a faded photocopy from a tour book.  We took the wrong path and ended up on the road that the shuttle buses used.  So we missed walking through the large necropolis, but we still saw it from afar.  Either way, it didn't seem that interesting.  

With over 1,200 tombs, the necropolis of Hierapolis is one of the largest from antiquity.

This tomb, which is constructed in the style of a temple, is
representative of  the graves found in the north necropolis.

This ancient olive press is missing the amphora which would
have been placed in the depression in order to collect the oil.

Canals brought water from the hot
springs to the pools in Hierapolis.

However, we already had plenty of water from the rain.

After seeing Ephesus and Aphrodisias earlier, Hierapolis was just not as interesting.  But the ruins are not the main reason why people flock to this site.  Like us, most tourists want to get their feet wet.

We finally made our way to the “Antique Pool” of Hierapolis.  This modern complex includes a café and gift shop.  However, the big draw is a swimming pool heated from the natural springs of Pamukkale.  Supposedly, Marc Anthony ordered this artificial pool to be constructed for Cleopatra.  Whether this is true or she actually used it is debatable.  The cost to swim is 35 TL ($13) per adult and 13 TL ($5) for children.  A locker rental is also another 10 TL ($4).  We didn't get the memo that no towels are provided.  While the prices were a bite steep, they were, in our opinions, worth it because we got a chance to swim with antiquities.  In the 7^th century, an earthquake caused several columns (possibly from the Temple of Apollo) to topple into the pool.  They still remain there to this day.

Since it was already late in the afternoon, the pool wasn't very crowded with many other tourists.

Erosion has rounded out the sharp edges of the columns.  They were fairly smooth to the touch.

Some of that smoothness was also from the slimy algae that collected on these artifacts.

The geothermal pool was the perfect end after two long days of walking in the ruins.  The bottom of the pool is covered with smooth pebbles.  While The Wife didn't like it, I thought they were massaging for my plantar fasciitis.  The Kids had fun sitting on and playing around the columns.  Overall, the antique pool was just a relaxing experience.

The Boy enjoyed a mini massage from hot spring water that is continuously piped into the pool.

The bottom of a pedestal made a perfect stool for The Girl.

The many broken columns prevented us from doing much swimming.

We left the pool just before the closing time around 7 PM.  There was still plenty of daylight left, so we headed over to the travertine terraces.  We slipped off our shoes and waded through the streams and pools that made up the travertine.  The water was still warm and refreshing in the cold late afternoon air.  

Shoes are not permitted on the travertines.
Besides, the water is best enjoyed barefoot.

Surprisingly, the rough surfaces were neither slippery nor painful.

The highest pools were the most crowded.  Many people turn back after the first few, so it was much less crowded as we kept walking.  Since we were planning to leave the ruins at the travertine entrance, we just kept going down.

The travertines create their own natural infinity pools.

The overflowing water causes a
calcium carbonate "waterfall" to form.

Eventually, the water from the travertines drains into a lake at its base.

Visitors to the park must follow a path formed by a canal of rushing water.

Many undisturbed pools like these were off-limits to tourists.

We slowly made our way down to town...

...and enjoyed the sun slowly sinking below the "cotton castle."

Somehow, fortune was on our side that day.  Despite all the rain throughout the day, our timing was perfect as we were able to remain dry the entire time we spent outdoors sightseeing.

We ate dinner back at the Hotel Hal-Tur.  The small dining area was cozy with a few tables and a fireplace.  Although the service was attentive and good, the food was not that great.  The prices were a bit high for the area.  The Kids ordered pasta.  The waiter explained to us that in Turkey, the locals enjoy eating noodles with ketchup and mayonnaise.  The Boy tried it and liked it.  However, The Girl and I were not impressed.

Assorted meze vegetables

Grilled vegetables with yogurt

Rice with butter

Pasta (to be eaten with ketchup and mayonnaise)

Grilled trout

Lamb stew

Kabak tatlısı (baked pumpkin dessert)

The Wife and I had planned to sit out on the balcony drinking coffee and enjoying the view of the travertines at night.  However, it was just way too cold, and the rain that was predicated for the afternoon finally came down hard at night.