Aug. 19 - Ephesus proudly houses one of the seven ancient wonders of the world; the Temple of Artemis. There were totally 127 Ionic columns with a height of 19 m / 62 ft each. 36 of columns were bearing sculptures in relief. The city is dedicated to her and has many fascinating buildings. The precise date of the city's foundation is not known but legend said that the first Efes was founded by Women Warriors of the Amazon in the 14th century BC and later inhabited by lonians in the 11th century BC after the first settlement of the Anatolian's natives, the Lelegians. In a short time the city became very important. After 133 BC it became a Roman province and during the reign of Augustus it became the trade center of Asia. Apostle Paul probably spent two and a half years in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, until a riot forced him to leave the city.

With all these civilizations passing through Ephesus, the remains take more than a day to visit fully (we did it in half a day). One of the very amazing ruins in Efes is the huge amphitheatre with a 24,000 seat capacity and what's left of the Celsus library.

On Bulbuldagi (Mt. Nightingale) we find the small house (Meryemana) built for the Virgin Mary when St. John brought her to Ephesus after Christ's death. She spent her last days in that house. Whether or not she died in Ephesus was not known until Anne Catherine Emmerich’s vision. The stigmatized German nun who had never been to Ephesus had a vision of the House of the Virgin Mary and described it in detail to the German writer Clemens Brentano who later published a book about it. Catherine Emmerich died in 1884. In 1891 Paul, Superior of the Lazarists from Izmir read about her vision and found a little building which corresponded with Emmerich’s descriptions. Archeological evidence showed that the little house was from the 6C AD but that the foundations were from the 1C AD.

This place was officially declared a shrine of the Roman Catholic Church in 1896, and since then it has become a popular place of pilgrimage.

After lunch the group went to Lapis Leather factory and were afforded with a fashion show. We arrived in Pamukkale at 5 pm. The elegant hotel provided mineral spa bath and massage.

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