Canım Benim : Izmir trip part 1/5

EPHESUS AND MERYEMANA EVI - THE HOUSE OF VIRGIN MARY

It's been a week since Elif and I are back from our trip to Izmir. 'What made you go there?' you might ask. Well, first of all we had planned a trip to Izmir for a few days of shopping and sight seeing since quite a long time. And Elif was visiting her family close to Denizli at the end of March so it was a perfect opportunity for me to join her there and drive from the village to Izmir together, exploring a bit more of the Ege (Aegean) side.

Alanya - Denizli is a roughly 7 hour bus ride. I know.. it sounds dreadful, but I assure you that busses in Turkey are more comfortable than in Europe. Better equippement, big screen with live tv, films, internet access, playlists and games in front of each seat, wifi, lots of leg space and good service on board offering all kinds of refreshments and snacks. Better than most charter flight companies that I have been on.

We spent a night at her parents holiday house in the village, just outside of Buharkent. The next day we planned to drive by car to Izmir to join Elif's sister and her daughter there, all staying together at their niece's apartment who lives in Izmir, studying music at the Dokuz Eylül Universitesi. But when we travel together no plan is set in stone. We follow our 'gusto' and just take the trip as it comes, discovering new unexpected things along the way and changing our mind on previous made plans quite often.

So we passed a sign to Ephesus, which said the ancient city is only 2 km away, located in the Selçuk district. We took the exit and decided to visit the place. I had never been there before so I couldn't let this one pass. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city and later a major Roman city, the largest one of Roman Asia. With its large harbour it was the second most important city in size, commerce and government after Rome. Today the area that once was the harbor is 5km inland, silted up by the river Cayster. The archeological site is huge. Walking among those ruins, pillars, buildings and avenues.. all built from white stone, you can get an idea of the glorious times that this city once must have lived. Most of the theatre, the bath, the library, temples, gladiator graveyard and terrace houses have been preserved and give a great impression of the city's actual scale.

It makes you feel so fragile, walking there, knowing that those times and this city must have once been so powerful. The people who lived there must have felt like this would last for ever, pretty much how we feel about our cities now. It's a strange thought to realize that one day, we and our powerful cities too will be burried under the surface of the earth, with new civilizations discovering us, walking around on our ruins with god knows what kind of high tech camera's in the far future.

The Library

The Theatre

After seeing this historic site we drove about 7 km into the mountains to visit the house of Meryemana: the Virgin Mary.

We found a small chapel where Mother Mary is believed to have been brought here by Apostel John after the resurrection of Christ and lived during the last period of her life. The site is sacred to both Christians and Muslims and visited by many pilgrims and tourists throughout the year. Muslims also believe in Maria and honor her as the mother of Prophet Jesus.

There is an interesting story to how the house was re-discovered more than 1700 years later, in 1812. The German nun Anne Catherine Emmerich, who was invalid and confined to her bed, once had visions of Virgin Mary and Apostle John traveling from Jerusalem to Ephesus. She also gave a very detailed description of the house, which was recoreded at her bedside by a writer named Brentano. Years later, a French clergyman named Gouyet read Brentano's report and travelled to Ephesus where he found the house and surrounding exactly as sister Emmerich had described. He sent a report to bishops in Paris and Rome but didn't receive a much of a response. Priests and specialists were years later sent to the site again, after a new report had been sent to Izmir. The damaged house and statue of the Virgin had then been restored.

Since 1897 The House of the Virgin was a place of pilgrimage and had also been visited by the Paupes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. There is a spring that runs under the house, its waters are believed to have healing powers and many miracles have been reported. Next to the wishing well there is a wall for people to attach their prayers and wishes to. There is millions of little notes.. and no matter where people come from and what brings them here, most of them wish for love, health and happiness for them and their loved ones.

Every wish and prayer reflecting someone's destiny somewhere in this world.

But what I liked the most of all is that this is a sacred place to both Christians and Muslims. Each year, on August 15, orthodox Catholics and Muslem clergy conduct a service together at this site, one of the very rare occasions this happens anywhere in the world.

And where ever there is peace and harmony, nature flourishes. The shrine is surrounded by beautiful plants and trees, with squirrels playing hide and seek in them:)