Day 10 – Monday 21 June – Hierapolis (Pamukkale) to Izmir (via Ephesus)
We have become very used to the routine now – breakfast at 7am, bags packed before we go to breakfast, and on the bus by 8am, although in today’s case we were given a 30 minute reprieve. We drove away at exactly 8:30am from our Hotel with the hot thermal pools, and headed for nearby ancient Hierapolis (adjacent to Laodicea) with its magnificent limestone terraces and warm thermal wading ponds.
This is literally a mountain of pure white limestone. From below it looks like a mountainside covered in artificial snow. It is quite a natural wonder. We were driven to the site, but were dropped about 2km early so we could walk through and explore the ancient necropolis, the ancient cemetery of Hierapolis, with its acres of ancient crypts. This was a city in itself, with many crypts the size of small houses, all ornately constructed with large blocks of stone – literally a house for life after death and which included many personal belongings but which have since been removed by museums and grave robbers over the centuries.
We then walked through the ancient ruins of Hierapolis with its evidence of ancient civilization – the incredible layout of the narrow main street, with evidence of chariot grooves in the ancient rock roadway. These were commonly built with a sewerage duct lying beneath the road, with shops lining both sides, side streets with remains of small housing. The town bath houses and toilets were quite a fascination.
We came to the top of the magnificent limestone terraces, which is quite a tourist attraction. It contained a large thermal pool which was as popular as the local swimming pool on a hot day. It seemed to be most popular to the Russians and the Japanese! It was amazing to see the Russians in particular walking around publicly in very skimpy bikinis and men with small swimming costumes (budgie smugglers!) without any embarrassment.
The limestone terraces covered many square kilometers, and towered over the town below (Pamukkale). There were wading pools right across the top of the mountain, in slightly descending altitude, so it was possible to walk for some 500mtrs from one pool to another. Some of our party bothered. Julie and I preferred to explore the adjacent ancient fortress that loomed over the city below like most fortresses of that age. Photos were glorious.
We reluctantly moved on and headed due east for the ancient coastal community of Ephesus, now modern Selcuk. It was a 2 hour drive in the bus, which was punctuated by a lunch stop.
As we approached Selcuk we were given a special treat – we were taken to a small pottery works which was based in what we would consider to be a small house. The few staff members were incredibly skilled. We were mesmerized by a demonstration of the skills of the potter with 30 years experience. He was so skilled, and created a magnificent bowl and a perfectly fitting lid which he accomplished with such precision but all by ‘eye’. We were then taken to the art room where three women were doing the very fine painting of the designs on the pots, bowls and even turtle candle – in fact a whole host of magnificent creations. We were finally shown into the show room to see the final products, which were of course for sale. We were offered 50% discounts on everything. Most of us could not resist buying at least something as a memory of our visit to Turkey.
Our final appointment for the day was the magnificent 6th Century Basilika of the Apostle John. It was constructed by Justinian 1, which stands over the believed burial site of the Apostle John. This was John the disciple of Jesus, the fisherman, who was the author of John’s Gospel and also author of the three Epistles of John found in the latter part of the New Testament. He is the only one of the disciples of Jesus known to have died a natural death in his old age, at Ephesus. He was however, exiled for a time on the island of Patmos by Emperor Domitian who oversaw a reign of terror and persecution of Christians. While on Patmos, John also wrote the ‘Apocalypse’ known better to us as the book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, as a result of a vision of Jesus asking him to ‘write these words’. This contains the letters to the seven churches.
As we entered, two of us helped a little boy with cerebral palsy who was in a wheel chair, through the turnstiles and up the many steps into the ruins of the Basilika, where his mother, grandmother and Aunty (all from Georgia) then wheeled him through. As we were gathered at St John’s tomb, we witnessed the most heart-breaking yet heart- warming sight – his Mum had taken him from his wheelchair and helped him walk in his feeble condition, and helped him kneel and crouch low on the tomb of the Apostle. We all stood there in silence at this heartbreaking scene, an act of sheer desperation for a divine healing for this little boy. Few of us were without tears as we watched helplessly, a reminder of the days of Jesus when mothers brought their sick children to Jesus as a last desperate act but an act of ultimate faith.
We gradually retreated to the shade of a large tree, where Julie and I led our daily devotional session, based on the letter to the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2), during which we also poured out our hearts to God for His miracle touch on this little boy’s life. His name is Andrea.
By now it was about 4:30pm. We boarded our bus for the 100k journey north, back to Izmir (ancient Smyrna) for the night, where tomorrow we will begin the day at the Chapel commemorating the tragic death by fire of Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna.
From our lovely Hotel on the eastern coast of Turkey, the city of Izmir, we send our love.
Until tomorrow…..
KRA
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