St. Polycarp Church in Izmir

I searched out one place in particular when I was in Izmir last year: St Polycarp Church.

Polycarp studied under John the Apostle and led the Christian Church in Smyrna (Izmir) until his death in about 155. As the story goes, the Romans arrested Polycarp and accused him of being an atheist (because Christians didn't acknowledge the Roman gods). The Roman proconsul urged him to say, "Caesar is Lord," to escape torture and death. But Polycarp responded, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" So he was burned at the stake.

It took some looking around before we found the church. We rang the bell and waited a long time. Finally an Italian-speaking nun came out and let us in. Polycarp is inspirational. The church wasn't bad.

Exceptional Ephesus

Last year I visited Ephesus, and I have to say it blew me away. The city is very well preserved because it was abandoned and so it wasn't covered over by new construction. It was abandoned because the harbor silted in and the valley in which it is located turned into a malaria-infested swamp. When we entered the city we walked past some ruins and then came to the main street which ran down a hill. The street was paved with stone and lined with statues. Buildings on either side...including a bathhouse, a small theater, Hadrian's temple (see picture), and a lot of others.

The next picture is of the Library of Celsus, which was built by the Romans in 120 A.D. The facade was reconstructed in the last century. The statues in the nooks represent Wisdom, Knowledge, Destiny and Virtue.

There were a lot of seats in the public toilets. Running water below kept things cleaned out. It was the place to socialize and catch up on the latest gossip.

There was also a brothel in Ephesus and various stone figures emphasizing the male anatomy have been found. They even sell replicas of the little twisted statues in the gift shops, along with "genuine fake watches."

So I was impressed on the one hand by the beauty and advanced nature of the ancient culture but by the pagan banality as well. It reminded me that our so-called progress has not changed things all that much.

One of the most Beautiful Places in Turkey

I'm into checking out cool places in Turkey that are off the beaten path. I'm definitely putting this one on my list of places to visit. Here's what Terry Richardson writes in Today's Zaman about the ancient city of Arykanda:

Sitting in Arykanda’s perfectly preserved theater on a glorious spring afternoon, with the sun sinking languidly toward the jagged, pine-forested Lycian mountains and soft shadows creeping into the niches, cracks and crevices of the stunning collection of ruins scattered across the hillside below, you’d be hard pushed to disagree with the author of the “Blue Guide to Turkey,” who describes it as “one of the most beautiful places in Turkey.”

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