Ephesus Off The Beaten Path

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The Isa Bey Camii is an impressive mosque located just at the base of Ayasuluk Hill. The mosque dates from 1375. It has an interesting dome over top of the structure and a grand courtyard. There is a friendly guardian or mulla who will show you around the mosque. If your spending sometime on your own in Selcuk, it is worth visiting the mosque. It is closed at prayer times.

Crossing the west of the Selcuk is a 6th century Byzantine aqueduct. The aqueduct extends for a few blocks along Namik Kemil Caddesi. Today its columns are often used to support the walls of old buildings and for storks to nest for much of the summer. On top of the one of the columns pictured you can see a such a nest.

It is said that St. John lived here in the last years of life. The Basilica of St. John was built by Justinian the Great, the Byzantine Emperor, in the 5th century on the spot were they supposedly found the tomb of St. John. The church was said to be astonishing in its day but today it is a very large ruin. This is because of the centuries of earthquakes and pillaging. It was restored to some degree about one hundred years ago. If you want to visit a good Byzantine ruin after your visit to Ephesus, then by all means come here as the place was quite interesting. The ruins are located northeast of Selcuk on St. Jean Cad.
The Basilica of St. John is open from 8am to 6pm daily and costs $2.00 for a visit.

Coins of Ephesus most frequently depicted a bee on the obverse. The earliest coins of Ephess had geometric punch mark reverses. Later coins of Ephesus most frequently depicted a stag on the reverse. Ephesus was a producer of honey and the location of a famous temple of Artemis. The bee advertised their most famous product and both the bee and stag symbolized worship of Artemis.
You can see them in Ephesus Museum, Selcuk

You may see small fragments of fassades or statues, lying around at many places and so it is worth to explore also the side-streets whenever possible.
The person standing next to this great sculpture may show you the big size of this rock and you may imagine how difficult it was - especially with just the old technical means - to get a stone of this size on the right place of a fassade.
Sorry for the bad quality of the photo - it is a scanning of my Super-8-film, that is actually a slide with a size of just 4mmx8mm

This is another mainstreet towards the old port of Ephesus.
Simply compare the width of these streets with the ones on my pomeji-page.
In Pompeji only on the big streets 2 carriages might have passed by each other, while here certainly 4-5 carriages could all go next to each other without problem.
On the sides of the street you still may see some columns of the houses and temples.
Sorry for the bad quality of the photo - it is a scanning of my Super-8-film, that is actually a slide with a size of just 4mmx8mm

This square-shaped public toilet had a pool in the center with seats arranged along the sides. A water channel was in front of the seats and the floor was covered in mosaic. The seats were covered but the pool was open. At each corner of the pool was a column supporting the roof.

There are some inscriptions on the front of the building. If you are curious, they say that "the library was erected in 110 AD by the Consul Gaius (Tiberius) Julius Aquila as a mausoleum for his father Gaius (Tiberius) Julius Celsus Polemaenus Aquila (92-114 AD). A sum of 25,000 denarii was bequeathed for the purchase of books and the upkeep of the building."