Classical Turkey: Aegean Coast

We make the long journey around the sea of Marmara to Çannakale where we take the ferry across the Dardanelles and continue to Troy. This is a place to quicken the senses and it is tantalising to imagine the Greek army ranged across the landscape while Paris paced the walls of the city and Hector duelled with Achilles. Its first excavator, Heinrich Schliemann dug between 1871 and 1879 cutting through nine later levels to get to the second, which he thought was ‘Homeric’ Troy. Following later excavations, we now know that the sixth level (1750-1300 BC) is most likely Homer’s city.

This morning we drive from sea level up to the site of Assos, one of the most beautifully situated sites in Turkey, perched on a prominent hilltop overlooking the Aegean and Sappho’s island of Lesbos. The city was founded by colonists from the island around 900 BCE and it enjoyed its peak in the 4^th century when students came to attend its school of philosophy; Aristotle was one of them. The site has a fine set of city walls, magnificent theatre and the famous Doric Temple of Athena situated on the east side of the acropolis. From here it could easily be seen by approaching ships and its position is as striking today as it must have been in antiquity. This afternoon we continue our journey around the coast to Ayvalik, stopping on the way to visit a hidden gem, the small archaeological site of Antandros. This Greco-Roman city is located on the slopes of Mount Ida and was established in the 7th century BCE. It is mentioned in both the Iliad and Aeneid as the city where Aeneas built his ships. Excavations here have been ongoing for some time and there have been some exciting new discoveries. A Roman villa has been excavated with mosaic and fresco decoration in part intact and there are also the remains of huge baths, Roman cisterns and an extensive necropolis. Later we arrive in Ayvalik.

We spend the day at the great Hellenistic city of Pergamon, one of the greatest ancient cities in Turkey, whose extensive remains range across a dramatic rocky outcrop. In the aftermath of the conquest of Alexander the city was taken over by the Attallid dynasty whose masterly diplomacy and alliance with Rome brought it to great heights of power and control over most of western Asia Minor. The last king, Attalus III bequeathed the entire kingdom to Rome in 133 BC.

Our explorations include the Acropolis, where a German archaeological expedition discovered the fragments of the altar of Zeus, built by King Eumenes II to celebrate a military. Painstakingly reassembled it is on display in Berlin. The altar is above the extraordinary theatre, more landscape architecture than public building. After lunch, we visit Pergamon Museum and the Aesclepium. This was the shrine of the healing God Asclepius whose cult became one of the most popular in the ancient world. Pilgrims, usually those with some ailment, would visit the shrine, take part in rituals and then be visited by the god in their sleep to be healed. The priests of the temple were also doctors. The most famous of the these was Galen, in the second century AD. We continue to Izmir.

Our first visit of the day is to the Agora of Smryna located in the Mezarlikbasi neighbourhood of Izmir. Built during the reign of Alexander the Great, it served as a commercial, judicial and political centre of the ancient city. Recent excavations here have promoted a tentative World Heritage listing as part of the historic port of Izmir. We continue inland to Sardis, a city that has always acted as a centre of Power. Initially the centre of the Kingdom of Lydia until about 500 BC it became a Persian administrative centre, the Roman capital of Asia, and survived into the Ottoman empire. We see its massive gymnasium and bathhouse, and the finely preserved Temple of Artemis. We continue to Pamukkale, the limestone ‘cotton castle' of calcite pools with warm thermal springs. Located in the River Menderes Valley, the Roman ruins here remain remarkably well-preserved.

Today we explore ancient Hierapolis, which benefited hugely from the nearby thermal springs, with its extensive tombs and the oracular Temple of Apollo. Adjacent to the temple lies the Plutonium, a shrine of the lord of the underworld. It conceals a vent which does still release noxious fumes. This would have been used to induce trance like states and is the source of the oracular powers of the temple. The limescale formations with cascading pools and hot springs make this site very picturesque. In the afternoon we visit Laodicea, a site largely unknown until 2003 when excavations revealed its history dates to 5,500 BCE, with the city’s peak occurring between the first and third centuries AD. With a population estimated at around 80,000 at that time, Laodicea was far larger than Hierapolis.

We travel east up the long valley of the Menderes River, through magnificent scenery. The river appears named in Homer’s Iliad and was noted in antiquity for the winding course it struck through the hills. We get our own word Meander, for a winding river, from this ancient original. The magnificent site of Aphrodisias was capital of the Roman province of Caria. The mountains surrounding this idyllic site produce very fine white Carian marble and the city became famous for its sculptors. Traces of their work can be seen everywhere, and the stadium of the city is famous for a series of important inscriptions.

We spend the morning at Priene, which is set on a peaceful wooded hillside beneath a towering limestone peak. The Temple of Athena stands as a substantial ruin. The city was never large and was forced to shift its lotion due to the silting of its harbour by the Menderes River. We follow in the footsteps of the Greeks to Didyma. Originally a Carian city it became an Ionian Greek settlement with a huge temple that housed a shrine and oracle of Apollo, famed for its religious festival, the Didymea. The temple was deliberately destroyed by the Persians but was rebuilt following Alexander’s conquest of their empire. A number of significant personalities participated in the festivals.  Alexander himself (whose army transposed the Didyma cult all the way to central Asia), his successor King Seleucus, and in AD 129 Hadrian.

We end the day at Miletus, well built with its regular street grid on a peninsula. This was the home of Hippodamus of Miletus, among others, who is credited as inventing regular city organisation, the origin of town planning no less!

Our tour culminates at Ephesus, one of western Turkey’s highlights. Probably originally a Hittite city, it was colonised by Attic and Ionian Greeks. This was one of the richest cities in Asia Minor and continued to thrive through the Roman period.

Ephesus was famed for its gigantic temple and sanctuary of Diana/Artemis, built in around 550 BC it was reckoned one of the wonders of the ancient world and a major example of Ionic architecture. Sadly, a single column now marks its sad remains. Images of the famous cult statue were extensively copied in the ancient world, the goddess hung about with sacrificial remains.

The city is full of fine architecture, including the restored but harmonious library of Celsius. After exploring the city, we visit the museum that houses treasures from the site. Ephesus had one of the earliest Christian communities outside Palestine, formed by the Apostle John. His successor, Paul of Tarsus, visited and lived in the city between AD 53-56. We end the day at the fortifications and Basilica of St. John at Selçuk, an extensive church built by emperor Justinian over the tomb of John, in the sixth century. This was in the town that replaced Ephesus in medieval times.

We drive to Izmir, where the tour ends, and we make our independent onward journeys.