Arrival in Kuşadası meant that we were heading towards the mother of all ruins - Ephesus! A short bus ride from the city, Ephesus is situated in an area ringed with hills. It was easy to protect this once a great harbor city. With the harbor silting in over the years, Ephesus lost it's importance as everyone moved closer to the sea. Ephesus houses some of the most complete Roman ruins anywhere, including the amphitheater where the Apostle Paul spoke to the Ephesians... and now you know why they were the Ephesians!
Chock full of amazing ruins, you can actually see a good part of the physical city. It is easy to imagine what else is out there, just waiting to be uncovered. There's a fabulous covered area that preserves an entire section of the upper class Roman apartments built on the side of a hill. Archeologists work there regularly, piecing together mosiacs and uncovering new artifacts routinely. Keeping the tiles and other artifacts out of the weather protects them and makes for a super impressive presentation.
We climbed around checking out the senate amphitheater, the latrines, the covered section, Cleopatra's Library (a gift from her lover, Marc Antony), and, of course, the place where Paul spoke. It was definitely a highlight of the trip and well worth seeing again in the future.
When we were all done, we ran the gauntlet of souvenir sellers - check out the photo featuring the "Genuine Fake Watches"!
Check out this link for more info: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/greece-turkey/turkey