{"id":44148,"date":"2011-09-21T11:09:52","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T08:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=44148"},"modified":"2023-04-06T09:43:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T06:43:41","slug":"turkeys-best-ancient-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2011\/09\/21\/turkeys-best-ancient-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey&#8217;s best ancient sites"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Having visited most of the great Classical sites, Annabel Simms explores some    of the lesser-known ancient cities of Turkey.<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div id=\"storyEmbSlide\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-44149\" title=\"turkey-temple_2003011b\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/turkey-temple_2003011b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/turkey-temple_2003011b.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/turkey-temple_2003011b-300x188.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>Image\u00a01\u00a0of\u00a03<\/div>\n<div>The library of Celsus\u00a0Photo: ALAMY<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>By Annabel Simms<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>If you want to do a little time travelling from our civilisation yet be    reassured that there is nothing new under the sun, go to the museum at    Aphrodisias, a Classical site being excavated in Turkey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Here, Britannia is shown as a bare-breasted barbarian woman (Boadicea?) lying    at the feet of an immensely idealised and youthful Emperor Claudius. This is    just one among the many other savage tribes in a series of sculptured    reliefs dating from around AD80 showing the size and reach of the <em>Pax    Romana<\/em> \u2013 and the extent to which the local Greek dignitaries had bought    into Roman values.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Another group of symbolic statues, one covered by the billowing cloak of    night, rams home the message: this is the empire on which the sun never sets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>I have visited most of the major Classical sites, so a tour of little-known    ancient cities in Turkey really appealed to me. The trip began in the Carian    city of Caunus with its Lycian temple tombs carved into the rock. In turn,    we visited Alinda, saved by Alexander the Great; the Temple of Apollo at    Didyma; nearby Miletus, Priene and Ephesus, all of them once thriving    seaports before the silting up of their harbours; Hierapolis, next to the    petrified waterfall and sacred spring at Pamukkale; and the Temple of    Aphrodite at Aphrodisias and Pinara with its spectacular Lycian rock tombs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tmg-related-links\">\n<div>\n<h2>Related Articles<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Istanbul: old city, new spirit03 Sep 2011<\/li>\n<li>Wake up and smell the coffee in Turkey&#8217;s beautiful Izmir03 Aug 2011<\/li>\n<li>Istanbul hotels: four of the best28 Jun 2011<\/li>\n<li>Your guide to Turkey27 Jun 2011<\/li>\n<li>Dionysos Estate, Turkey: hotel review12 Jun 2011<\/li>\n<li>Lycia, Turkey: the perfect break06 Apr 2011<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The tour ended at Fethiye, the ancient city of Telmessos, where I sat in the    Roman amphitheatre watching the local teenagers flirting on its crumbling    stone seats overlooking the bay.<\/p>\n<p>To see so many places, famous and not-so-famous, in one week is an unusual    opportunity to understand both the continuity of Classical civilisation over    a millennium and its decline, due as much to the silting up of rivers and    earthquakes as to the fall of the Roman Empire. I could now draw you an    identikit map of a Carian-Lycian-Greek-Roman city, with its temples,    theatre, agora, harbour, necropolis and plumbing arrangements, and even    include the delicate frescoes which decorated its villas, having seen them    in situ at Ephesus.<\/p>\n<p>Aphrodisias, with the widely scattered remains of its huge temple, theatre and    stadium surrounded by waving poppies and olive trees, was for me the best    place from which to make sense of the ruins of the successive civilisations    which litter this part of Turkey. Its small museum, displaying and    explaining the symbolism of the sculptures found there, is one of the most    illuminating I have ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>I am not a museum fan. I&#8217;d rather see a crumbling sculpture in its original    setting than the best-preserved Classical statue, stripped of its context,    in a museum. But the museum at Aphrodisias is exceptional, partly because of    the beauty and significance of the site itself, a fertility cult centre    since around 9000BC.<\/p>\n<p>The worship of Aphrodite lingered on here well into the fifth century, long    after paganism had been eradicated in other parts of the Roman Empire. The    museum is state of the art as the site is still being excavated by an    American archaeological team, which may explain the clarity and helpfulness    of the English explanatory notices alongside the Turkish ones.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the display notes, I saw things I would have completely overlooked:    an early Classical head of Alexander the Great with a neat line incised    across the throat, a pious addition in the sixth century when Aphrodisias    had a hardline Christian bishop.<\/p>\n<p>Other statues had fared less well in this period, some being defaced beyond    recognition. The note beside a statue of around AD200 informed me that the    sculptor had carved &#8220;Jesus Son of Mary&#8221; under the hairline at the    back, presumably as a secret protest at having to earn a living by making    pagan statues.<\/p>\n<p>Every site we visited was subtly different, with its own peculiar ambience. We    all agreed that the biggest let-down was Ephesus, the best-known site and    for that reason more crowded than the London Underground at rush hour, and    with an even more sophisticated and cranky electronic ticketing system.<\/p>\n<p>I hardly recognised the city I had visited 25 years ago \u2013 at lunchtime, when    it was deserted. Apparently the only way to see it like that now is to get    up at the crack of dawn.<\/p>\n<p>But I did discover a fascinating new detour to the Terrace Houses &#8220;museum&#8221;,    just off the main street.<\/p>\n<p>It is actually a roofed archaeological site in progress, with glass walkways    along several levels so that you can look down into the interiors of houses    dating mainly from around AD200 and see their beautiful mosaics and frescoes    as their owners saw them. The \u00a35.70 entrance fee is probably responsible for    the absence of crowds here, but to me was worth every penny for seeing what    is in effect a living museum.<\/p>\n<p>Ephesus is surrounded by little stands proclaiming &#8220;genuine fake watches&#8221;    and the inflated prices are in euros (always a bad sign). Euros were also    the norm at Didyma and at Pamukkale, where the vast crowds at the entrance    caused one of our group to hurriedly arrange to rejoin us later and flee.<\/p>\n<p>The famous thermal baths here are indeed over-visited and overpriced. Mineral    water at 97F (36C) bubbles from the original sacred spring into the outdoor    pool, the bottom of which is covered with broken Classical columns. I    discovered them by stubbing my toe on one, although they are clearly visible    if you look down through the limpid water. But I am glad I sampled the water    because it really does have therapeutic properties. I emerged feeling warmer    and psychologically lighter, much as I did after an open-air sauna in    Finland.<\/p>\n<p>The other good reason to brave the crowds at Pamukkale is to visit the    abandoned city of Hierapolis close by. By great good luck it was late    afternoon when we reached it, the best time of day to stroll through its    colonnaded main street and triple-arched gateway to the necropolis,    containing more than a thousand tombs extending for one and a quarter miles    (2km) along the road.<\/p>\n<p>The silence here, with mountains rising in the distance, induces reflection    but, oddly enough, not melancholy. The continuity, rather than the    transitory nature of human life here, was the main impression we carried    away and we agreed that the absence of crowds had a lot to do with it.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of atmosphere, Pinara and Alinda, both necessitating a steepish    uphill climb, were the clear winners. We met hardly anyone at Pinara and no    one at all at Alinda, where we picnicked in the ruined theatre encircled by    distant mountains, with only the wind whispering through the olive trees    which have thrust themselves at crazy angles between the seats and fill most    of the stage. The call to prayers drifting across to us from a distant    mosque only added to our sense of silent communion with the past.<\/p>\n<p>As with any guided tour, there were drawbacks, the main one being that there    is never enough time for people to do their own thing at their own pace. I    also think that, with some exceptions, Turkish food can be better and    sometimes cheaper in north London than in the restaurants on tourist routes    in Turkey. One restaurateur told me that food prices had increased by 100    per cent in the past two years and, after visiting a local supermarket, I    could see that this may well be true. But the Turkish coffee was a pleasure    I never tired of.<\/p>\n<p>In general, the standard of the modest hotels we stayed in was good, and Turks    are friendly people. Going with a tour group is a good idea if your aim is    to see as many interesting places as possible in a short time, in the    company of like-minded people. For me it was also a good way of learning    which aspects of Turkey I would want to avoid, as well as an incentive to    return and explore this fascinating country in more depth.<\/p>\n<h3>Essentials<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Getting there<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Turkish Airlines (0090 212 444 0 849; www.turkishairlines.com)    offers return flights from Heathrow to Dalaman, changing at Istanbul, from    around \u00a3296. Thomas Cook Airlines (08718 950 055; www.thomascookairlines.co.uk)    offers direct flights to Dalaman from Gatwick from around \u00a3171, but they can    be at awkward times.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Packages<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The tour as described is offered by Explore (0845 013 1537; www.explore.co.uk).    Its eight-day tour of classical sites, trip reference Aegean Sites (TA),    starts from Dalaman and returns from Fethiye. It costs \u00a3718 including    flights, hotels, transport, guided tours and insurance but not meals, except    breakfast.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Getting around<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not going as part of a tour, then visiting classical sites off the    beaten track by car or public transport can be problematic. There is a good    summary of different modes of transport in The Rough Guide to Turkey, which    also contains useful information on the sites mentioned here, as well as    much else.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When to go<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spring or autumn is the best time to visit the sites. That way, the weather is    pleasant but there are fewer people around.<\/p>\n<h3>The best hotels<\/h3>\n<p>Sel\u00e7uk, the later name for Ephesus, is a useful base from which to visit    Alinda, Didyma, Priene, Miletus and ancient Ephesus. Fethiye would also be a    good choice, as it is beautifully situated on the coast, within easy reach    of Pinara, Caunus, Aphrodisias and Pamukkale.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Canberra, Sel\u00e7uk<\/strong> \u00a3<br \/>\nA small, well-run hotel next to a little park and a five-minute walk from the    helpful tourist office and the museum displaying treasures from Ephesus (232    892 7668; www.hotelcanberra.net;    from \u00a313 per person).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kalehan, Sel\u00e7uk <\/strong>\u00a3\u00a3<br \/>\nModern hotel built in traditional Ottoman style, with garden and swimming    pool, located near the Byzantine castle (232 892 6154; www.kalehan.com;    from \u00a323 per person).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ephesus Princess, Pamucak <\/strong>\u00a3\u00a3\u00a3<br \/>\nA large, modern five-star hotel by the sea, just over five and a half miles    (9km) from Sel\u00e7uk (232 893 1011; www.kusadasihotels.com\/ephesusprincess;    from \u00a357 per person).<\/p>\n<h3>The best restaurants<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Tat, Sel\u00e7uk <\/strong>\u00a3<br \/>\nThe menu of this small friendly restaurant in the centre of town offers some    welcome variations from the ubiquitous kebabs. I particularly enjoyed a    simple starter of fresh runner beans in an olive-oil based sauce (Cengiz    Topel Cadesi no. 17; 232 892 1916; www.ephesusselcuk.com).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Efes, Sel\u00e7uk<\/strong> \u00a3<br \/>\nThis modest restaurant is where the locals go to eat (Namik Kemal Cadesi no.    24; 232 892 2006).<\/p>\n<h3>What to avoid<\/h3>\n<p>Get to the airport in good time for a Turkish Airlines flight. As I only had    hand luggage I arrived half an hour before check-in closed, only to find    that my flight had been overbooked.<\/p>\n<p>Although Turkey produces good wine, most people drink tea and visitors drink    beer, as wine is surprisingly expensive. Efes beer does in fact come in    smaller bottles than the 50cl size you will be automatically served unless    you specify <em>ku\u00e7uk<\/em> (small).<\/p>\n<p>Turkish money is easy to convert now that all those zeros have been abolished.    Just halve all prices in Turkish lira to get the sterling equivalent, which    is actually a bit less. Euros are more useful than sterling, although cash    machines are plentiful.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/travel\/destinations\/europe\/turkey\/8773959\/Turkeys-best-ancient-sites.html<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having visited most of the great Classical sites, Annabel Simms explores some of the lesser-known ancient cities of Turkey. &nbsp; Image\u00a01\u00a0of\u00a03 The library of Celsus\u00a0Photo: ALAMY By Annabel Simms If you want to do a little time travelling from our civilisation yet be reassured that there is nothing new under the sun, go to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":44149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1094],"tags":[7010,7011,4284,7012,7013],"class_list":["post-44148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-aphrodisias","tag-didyma","tag-ephesus","tag-miletus","tag-priene"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}