Ephesus Summary and Wider Turkey: Sardis Synagogue and Gymnasium, Aphrodisias Sculpture City, Comparison of the Aegean Turkey Sites, the Best Western Turkey Itinerary, and the Departure from the Aegean
The Ephesus departure and wider Turkey route covers the Sardis synagogue and gymnasium complex as the largest ancient synagogue in the world, the Aphrodisias marble sculpture city and stadium, the comparison of the major Aegean Turkey archaeological sites, the recommended western Turkey 10-day itinerary, and the departure summary from the Aegean.
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Sardis: The Synagogue and the Gymnasium
Sardis, the capital of the Lydian kingdom of Croesus and the city where the first coins were minted in the 7th century BC, preserves the largest ancient synagogue in the world - the 80 by 20-meter Jewish synagogue in the Sardis gymnasium complex - and the gymnasium with the marble courtyard that the Jewish community of Sardis shared with the civic gymnasium users in the most unusual example of the Jewish diaspora integration into Roman civic life. The Temple of Artemis at Sardis, the only complete surviving ancient temple in Turkey with 2 standing columns, is the largest Artemis temple after Ephesus and Sardis.
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Aphrodisias: The Marble Sculpture City
Aphrodisias in the Maeander Valley 180 kilometers from Selcuk, the most completely excavated and the least visited of the great ancient cities of western Turkey, preserves the finest marble sculpture school of the Roman empire period with the sculptures produced by the Aphrodisian school collected in the on-site Aphrodisias museum that is the finest single-site ancient sculpture collection in Turkey after the Antalya museum. The Aphrodisias stadium with the 30,000 seat capacity is the best preserved ancient stadium in Turkey.
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Comparison: The Major Aegean Sites
The comparison of the major Aegean Turkey archaeological sites - Ephesus for the completeness and the accessibility, Pergamon for the drama of the acropolis, Sardis for the synagogue and the Lydian history, Aphrodisias for the sculpture and the stadium, Priene for the Hellenistic grid town, and Didyma for the oracle and the monumental columns - provides the framework for the visitor to prioritize the limited time available for the western Turkey circuit. Ephesus is the essential single site, Pergamon and Aphrodisias are the most rewarding secondary visits for the visitor with 2 additional days.
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Western Turkey 10-Day Itinerary: The Complete Circuit
The western Turkey 10-day itinerary, from Istanbul by flight to Izmir, 2 days at Ephesus and Selcuk, 1 day Pamukkale-Hierapolis, 2 days at Cappadocia via Konya, 2 days on the Antalya coast via Perge and Aspendos, and the return from Antalya to Istanbul, covers the essential western and southern Turkey archaeological and natural heritage in the most efficient single circuit. The circuit requires either the Istanbul-Izmir flight at the start and the Antalya-Istanbul flight at the end, or the car rental for the complete ground circuit.
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Ephesus at Sunrise: The Essential First Image
The sunrise visit to Ephesus, entering the site at the 8am opening through the upper Magnesian Gate and walking down the Sacred Way toward the Library of Celsus in the first light when the marble street is quiet and the light is golden and the swallows are leaving their nests in the column capitals, provides the experience that overrides every subsequent image in the Turkey memory. The Ephesus sunrise is the moment when the Roman city is most completely present and the modern visitor is most completely transported.
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Ephesus Farewell: The Ancient Aegean Achievement
Ephesus, the most complete surviving Roman city in the eastern Mediterranean outside Pompeii, is the single site in Turkey that most completely demonstrates the organizational, architectural, and artistic achievement of the ancient Aegean world. The visitor who walks from the Magnesian Gate to the Library of Celsus in the morning, reads the inscription on the Celsus tomb, walks through the Terrace Houses, and stands in the Great Theatre where Paul the Apostle addressed 25,000 people has encountered the most concentrated single archaeological landscape in Turkey and the site that most directly connects the modern Aegean Turkey to the ancient world that created the concept of the city as the primary form of human civilization.