There are for sure a lot of ruins in Turkey. Some of the most famous ones you can think of are in Turkey, and there are quite a few that you wouldnt think are in Turkey since they are of Greek origin like Troy. Some are a bit meh and some are in good condition. Some come with magnificent views and some are in the middle of nowhere with noone around them. Here are some examples. In Bergama are the ancient ruins of Pergamom which doesnt have the romantic history of somewhere like Troy but was an important city in its time. It is built on a rather large hill and has the most amazing views of a lake nearby. There are not too many tourists here and you can wander around at your leisure checking things out, including one egotistical sized ampitheatre. Another more well known set of ruins is Ephesus.
Famous for being the focus of a book in the New Testament written by St. Paul (who was born just down the road a bit), it was for a long time the second city in the Roman empire which would give an indication of its size and wealth. Today it is near the town of Selcuk and is the focus of the many cruise ships that visit (too many if you ask me, bloody cruise passengers!).
On the particular day we were at Ephesus, there were four ships is port, but you couldnt really tell, unless you count the thousands of stupid people on tours walking around the place (some who were astounded that they have marble here too, just like in the States). There is still excavation going on but the parts that are open demonstrate how the city must have been at its height. Given that most of the city is built from marble, the whiteness of it must have been visible for a fair way in the sun. There are more ruins in Turkey than you know what to do with. You can get ruined out and sometimes you find yourself going past three thousand year old buildings of some significance without a second look. One such occasion was in Patara, the actual birthplace of Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas to give him his proper name. It is a small town off the beaten track but is has a magnificent beach. To get to the beach you have to go past the ruins of an ancient town, and to be honest we did just that, went straight past them. Some ruins sound better on paper than they look in real life. 
There is the ancient town of Haran which was Abraham's old haunt (yes, THE Abraham) which has lots of 'locals' who are kindly prepared to go out of their way and guide you to the best parts of the town, for a small fee of course. Since the town isnt that big, you dont really need a guide, but it can be difficult to tell them that. There are some good examples of 'Bee Hive houses' there but as to the actual Abrahamness of it, it falls in to the better on paper catagory. 
Out in the desert there are some ruins that are definitely not taken over by tourists, six year old boys driving tractors are testament to that. It is in this rural area that the prophet Jethro hung out. There is a fairly large set of ruins but since there is nothing around, I cant see the attraction. Most of the houses in the ruined city were subterranean and you can walk down into them without much of a problem.
Also in the desert are ruins of 400 year old caravanserais. Since these are on the main road, such that it is, you can see why they are here. Trade is a strong motivator for building. Given the number of ruins in Turkey and the significance of most of them, it is easy to miss some. 
We tried to visit all that we can, but that would take a long time and we would be old, some would say ancient, by the time we saw them all. This is just a sample.
No comments:
Post a Comment