ITINERARY

• Get picked up from Kusadasi Port after you ship docked or from hotel in Kusadasi. Then drive to Ephesus by a comfortable conditioned vehicle.
• Ephesus was once the second largest city in the Roman Empire. Starting at the Magnesia Gate, you will walk past a series of excavated ruins that reveal the beauty of this venerable World Heritage site. You might see the classical Grand Theater where St. Paul preached, the Fountain of Trajan with its regal statue of the emperor and the Library of Celsus, a monument constructed as a mausoleum with a separate library for scrolls and codexes.
• Visit to the House of Virgin Mary, where she spent last days of her life. House of Mary discovered in a vision by a bedridden German nun in 1812, this stone building is believed by many Catholics and Muslims to be where the Virgin Mary lived her last years. There is also a healing fountain.
• Stop at the ruins of St. John’s Basilica. Built in the 6th century, the church stood over the spot where St. John is supposedly buried. Although a Mongol army destroyed the building and pillaged materials, part of the basilica has been restored to show its scope.
• The “Seven Sleepers” were seven young men who had been walled up in a cave during the persecutions under Decius (c.250). They fell asleep, miraculously waking up around 435 in the time of Theodosius II. The seven men wandered into the city of Ephesus, amazed at all the churches and the freedom of worship for Christians. The Sleepers later died naturally (and permanently) and were buried in the cave in which they had slept.
• View the ruins of the Temple of Artemis. Invaders also damaged it, as did an arsonist and a Christian mob. The final version of the renovated temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. All that remains is one column and a few scattered remnants.
• Your guide and personal driver will take you back to the ship before departure time or to your hotel.