Milella and Ceuta are the only remnants of a once large Spanish Morocco colony on the north African coast.  Melilla was established by the Phoenicians in 1000 BC and pretty much every civilization has settled there at some point.  It came under Spanish rule in 1497 and Ceuta was annexed in 1580.  Both centers were ports of trade for gold, ivory, and slaves.  Despite the lengthy Spanish presence the regions are considered occupied territory by Morocco.The area of  Milella (pronounced me lee ya) covers only about 4 square miles and the historic center is fairly small so you can get around easily on foot.  Popularly known as “El Pueblo” or “The Village,” the old walled monumental town is split up by moats that open to the sea and the continent.  (It wasn’t until about 1900 that anyone dared live outside the protective ramparts due to the high risk of attack by marauding bandits.)  Over the  centuries much of Old Melilla was not well maintained, but it was renovated in the 1990s as a recognized valuable historic district.

Our guided walking tour took us through the Old Town, to the Municipal Museum and into the Conventico Caves.  We had been told our guide would have a translator but Felix spoke English. We were, in fact, the first tour he had conducted in English.  He did very well.

Felix pointed out some of the mason’s marks on the stone blocks.  They would put their mark on the blocks they had cut in order to ensure payment for their work.

Inside the museum there were many displays of pottery, jewelry, and other artifacts that showed the way of life in bygone days, including a typical nomadic tent.

We had quite awhile to wander around.  Felix didn’t seem to be in a big hurry and did his very best to find the correct English words to answer questions.  It was nice not to be rushed hither and yon but by the time we were through our tour all the buses had returned to the ship.  We waited over half an hour for a bus and Felix finally took us to the shuttle stop for a ride back to port. This archway had three dates carved in the stones 1552, 1604 and 1997. There were large reservoirs in the walls of the fortress to keep clean water, assisted by eels who kept the water moving and therefore purified.  I am sure the eels were also a food source.

People sought refuge during attacks in this fortified church and the nuns provided care for the sick.

For me, the coolest part of the tour was the descent into the Convetico Caves, several levels under the fortress.  This was a lengthy three-level natural cave system that the convent used as a refuge during attacks.  The entire city once lived within the caves for three months and they  served as a bomb shelter during WWII.  It was fascinating! After our tour we had intended to take the shuttle into New Melilla which is Modernist in style and had many buildings designed by a student of the famous Spanish architect Gaudi (whose work we will see in Barcelona), but due to our late return we decided against it.

It was 3:30 by the time we had a bite to eat and the last shuttle left town at 5:15 for the 5:30 all aboard.  We had to wait 3/4 of an hour for the shuttle we caught at the end of our tour so we thought the time window was too narrow to risk a trip to town.

The ship crossed the Mediterranean Sea overnight and brought us to Cartagena on the southeastern coast of Spain.

At noon we returned to the ship from our walk around Odessa so we had time for some lunch before boarding the bus for the half hour ride to the village of Nerubaiskoye and the catacombs museum.The gas line is raised over the roads or driveways to allow trucks to pass undeneath.

The tunnels were formed by the local people as they were digging limestone from underground for the construction of their houses and other buildings.  Dating back to the foundation of the city in 1794, this labyrinth has served as a hiding place first for thieves and smugglers, then for revolutionaries and the secret printing of propaganda literature and leaflets.  They were used by enterprising Odessans who made home-made vodka and printed false money. Finally the tunnels were used extensively by the members of partisan detachments actively fighting against the Nazis during the city’s occupation in WWII.

We began our tour at one of the many entrances to the catacombs and ended it at the museum. The catacombs (a word borrowed from Italian meaning “natural or artificial underground cavities”) are the most extensive and broad underground formations in the world.  They stretch 50 km (30 miles) out of Odessa into the countryside and are 2-3 stories deep (about 10-15 m or 32-50 feet).   Much of the labyrinth is uncharted even to this day (mainly due to the fact that the tunnel branches are always expanding due to excavation of the limestone.)  It is estimated that if the tunnels were stretched out straight and joined together they would reach a length of 2500-2700 km (1550-1670 miles), which is about the distance from Odessa on the Black Sea coast to St. Petersburg in Russia on the  Baltic Sea.

Jews and Gypsies (Roma) were fleeing the German armies and many ended up in Odessa with their back to the sea and no where to go.  After the city fell (it took 73 days and the city was designated a “Hero City” for the heroism displayed by its citizens) the Germans rounded up many of the them and they were either shot or sent to the death camps.  Over 300,000 people died in Odessa.

It did not take long before a very active and courageous group of resistance fighters began to make sneak attacks on German supply and munitions depots.  They harried and harassed them; disrupting power supply, destroying factories, production plants, ports, bridges, railway links, and roads, as well as distributing thousands of posters and leaflets with antifascist propaganda.                                                              Sleeping pallets

                                                Commander’s ‘office’

 They made bombs and molotov cocktails and had a shooting galleryThe German occupation lasted 907 days and there were 13 partisan detachments and 45 underground organizations with more than 4,000 members working in secret to fight the Nazis, aided by thousands of patriots that helped them.  They used the catacombs as living quarters and hideouts.  With all the entrances and tunnel branches resistance fighters could enter and exit from many different places and if German soldiers followed them into the tunnels they would quickly get confused in the maze and could be killed.  The Germans began to barricade any entrances they found and trapped some of the partisan cells, making for some incredible stories of endurance and escape.

The well still contains fresh water and this allowed many people to survive underground.

There was a memorial area commemorating the sacrifice of prominent resistance leaders who had been captured and executed.Rough carvings of the faces of four of them were on this wall.                                 The schoolroom for the childrenThe museum contained detailed accounts of the lives of many of the resistance fighters, tales of their exploits and memorabilia. Outside was an impressive commemorative statue.

In Odessa we did not have a tour until the afternoon so after breakfast we explored the same route as could be taken on the walking tour shore excursion.

I don’t know the significance, if any, of this dragon, but he was cool.

The port is located at the bottom of the famous Potëmkin steps.  There were 200 but 8 were removed when the harbour was restored, so we only had to climb 192.  The Potëmkin Steps are considered the “city gate.”  The steps at the bottom are twice as wide as those at the top.  When viewed from the top, individual risers blend into a smooth slope.It was a very windy day and cool.  The temperature was about 6° C (43° F) so there were not a lot of folks out walking.  We enjoyed wandering around and seeing some of the buildings and parks in the older parts of town.

                                 Vorontsov Palace (above) Shah’s Palace.  Built between 1851-1852.  So called because it was rented by the Persian Shah.

The Mother-in-law’s Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that is built over a gully to connect two roads in Odessa.  No one is quite sure why it bears that name.  The two prevailing theories are: 1) the bridge is quite rickety.  If there is a strong wind or a few people jump at the same time it really shakes.  This is like a mother-in-law’s wagging, scolding tongue. 2) the mayor of the city at the time the bridge was built (1969) loved his mother-in-law’s pancakes and had the bridge built to facilitate access to her house.The bridge railings are constantly being covered by padlocks placed there by lovers.  Due to the weak construction of the bridge city officials just a constantly remove them.  They even had this heart sculpture built at one end of the bridge to encourage people to use it instead of the bridge.  Doesn’t work.  They still cover the bridge with padlocks.
        This park had a nice fountain and quite a few sculptures.  A fellow setting up shop for photographing tourists in old military garb.         The world famous Odessa Opera House and Ballet Theater  The City Council Building

We completed the walking tour loop and went back to the port for some lunch before our afternoon tour of the catacombs.The port building.  The entire front is mirrored and this very unique sculpture is in the courtyard outside. 

Constanta is the main Romanian seaport for traffic flowing in both directions along the Danube (Black Sea).  Bucharest, Romania’s capital is approximately 195 km (120 mi) from Constanta.  The express rail will get you to Bucharest in about 2 1/2 hours.  Constanta has the largest harbour on the Black Sea and is a major distribution center for wheat, and, of all things, scrap metal.  There are many run-down and derelict buildings from the communist era that are being torn down and the scrap metal is shipped to a new plant in Istanbul. Romania is now a democratic republic with 41 counties.  They have been rebuilding the country since the rebellion in 1989 when the very autocratic communist ruler (who had kept the nation under his thumb for 25 years) and his wife, were executed on Christmas Day after a two-day trial.

                    The electrical grid is somewhat haphazard.80% of the population of 21 million are devout Russian Orthodox Christians.  We arrived on Easter Sunday for us, but the Orthodox calendar is different so it was Palm Sunday for the people.  Much of the town was shut down for the holiday.  The tour we had chosen took us into the countryside through very fertile farmland.  This area accounts for about 30% of Romania’s economy.  The farms and homes were small and very basic but it had only been 23 years since the people had received the right to own property and work it for themself.We made a brief stop at the Danube-Bosporus Canal.  This artificial river across a narrow part of Romania cuts 400 miles off the Danube River’s route to the sea.  The canal was envisioned in the early 19th century but was considered too expensive to attempt to build.  The communist leader of the country said he could get it done and had plans drawn up.  His construction team was to be comprised of prisoners, liberal thinkers, artists; anyone who spoke out against him or his regime, rulings, soldiers, etc.  Prison camps were erected all along the canal route and quickly filled with forced laborers.

It is estimated that between 100,000 and one million people worked on the canal and, though no records exist, the death toll is understood to have been very high.  The canal was completed in four years – 1949-1953.  It is 64 km long (about 40 mi), 6 1/2 meters (21 feet) deep and 55 1/2 meters (60 feet) wide.  It can accommodate all river vessels.  The nearby farms use the canal water for irrigation. We visited the reconstructed Monument of Tropaeum Traiani.  The site was discovered about 1900 and became one of the most important antique Roman monuments in the nation.  Emperor Traiani ordered a Triumphal Monument (to honour victory in battle), a mausoleum for the incinerated remains of a formidable officer who died in the battle during which the Romans defeated Dacia (102 AD), and a cenotaph inscribed with the names of more than 3,000 soldiers.  Today, the facings on the monument are copies and the original base reliefs are in the nearby museum.  They have 49 of the original panels.  Three more are in the museum in Bucharest and the location of one is unknown.

 The scenes carved into the façade, known as metopes, commemorate and glorify the battle.

                         The original panels in the museum. We drove a short distance to our final destination; St. Andrew’s Cave and Hermitage.  The apostle Andrew lived here while he preached the Gospel and baptized the first converts to Christianity in Romania.  There is an Orthodox monastery and a lovely church at the site as well.  The cave is still used as a place of worship.

Church services were concluding as we toured the cave and we were able to go into the church later.  It is traditional for families to bring a picnic and have lunch on Palm Sunday so there were lots of people wandering around the grounds.

The cave was a small cut into the nearby hillside.  There was a shrine inside and very colourful murals on the walls.  A hole in the ceiling goes up to the chimney-like structure on the top of the hill. The Orthodox Church was very bright with paintings of all the apostles, many designs, and symbols.After our tour of the church was finished we were ushered to a long narrow room and given lunch made by the local ladies.  Since we were visiting during the Lenten season when they observe a very strict fasting tradition, we were served a very simple meal.  During Lent they eat no meat except on Annunciatian Sunday and Palm Sunday when they can have fish.  Our lunch therefore consisted of pickled herring, fish balls, cold fish fillets, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and an apple strudel-type dessert.  Some folks on the tour were not really pleased with the lunch but we felt that were given the best they could offer and still follow their holy observances.

The drive back to the ship took almost an hour and a half. Lots of people grow grapes for their own wine in the front yard.

We got back to the ship in time to attend the Easter worship service.  As usual the florist on-board did an awesome job with Easter-themed arrangements around the ship.                           The Easter Bunny visited the dining room and all the cabins received chocolate bunnies. The next morning we docked in Odessa, Ukraine where we visited the cryptic catacombs.

On the second day in Istanbul we went on the second half of our Istanbul Deluxe tour. We spent the morning touring the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace.  The bus picked us up again after we finished at Topkapi and took us to the Green House Restaurant for lunch.  I had a quick bite to eat and then wandered around taking photos of the lovely flowers. After lunch we went to Hagia Sophia (pronounced ai ya Sophia), once the largest Christian church in the world.  Emperor Justinian ordered construction to begin in the sixth century.  The unsupported domes have withstood centuries of earthquake and war and though they have been repaired several times, they have never fallen.

Construction began in 532 AD and the church was completed in 537 AD.  It continued as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral until 1453 when it was converted to an Ottoman Imperial  Mosque on May 29, 1453 , and then became the main seat of Islamic worship until 1931. In 1935 Hagia Sophia (meaning Holy wisdom in Latin) was secularized and was opened as a museum on February 1, 1935.

The place was absolutely massive.  Look how low all the light fixtures  (which are way above our heads) are compared to the height of the building.  The top of the dome is 55 meters high (180′) and 36.5 meters (120′) across. There was a very interesting juxtaposition of Christian and Islamic images.

The Mausoleums of several princes and sultans are located on the grounds. 
The tour ended at the Grand Bazaar for a carpet demonstration and some shopping time.  I spoke to our guide and told him we would be walking back to the ship from the bazaar as we did not want to go shopping.  When other people heard about what I said only four of the people on the bus wanted to stop at the Grand Bazaar.  So we did a short stop for them to hop out and then all the rest of us were taken to the port and we rested our weary feet once back on board.  And it was an early night since we had another tour the next morning.

Day two in Instanbul was a long day; but a great day.  We left the ship at 8 am and after a short drive through Old Town, the name given to the ancient part of the city, we got off the bus at the Hippodrome, once the most important place in the city.  There was only the back wall and three monuments left of what once was the largest chariot race track of the Roman Byzantine Empire.

This long space was the site of the Hippodrome used for chariot races.  Two obelisks and a bronze serpentine column were erected in the Hippodrome. The oldest one was from Egypt and was 3,000 years old.  It had been brought to the Hippodrome site in 390 AD.   The obelisk was created by Pharaoh Thutmosse III in the 18th dynasty 1479-1425 BC.  Emperor Constantius II had it and a second obelisk transported down the Nile River to Alexandria to commemorate his 20 years on the throne in 357 AD. (The other obelisk was erected at the Circus Maximus in Rome.) It was made of solid granite and it actually looked the newest.

The obelisk was originally 30 meters tall. It was damaged in antiquity, possibly when being transported and is now 18. 5 meters tall.  The base is quite a mish-mash of foundation stones.   This one, called the Walled Obelisk, was the turning signal for the chariots racing at the Hippodrome. From the Hippodrome we walked next door to the famous Blue Mosque. Thank goodness we were on a pre-arranged tour!  The line to get tickets was very, very long.  Our tour guide already had all of our tickets so we just went right in.

We had to remove our shoes before entering the mosque and, if you didn’t have your own, scarves were provided for women to cover their hair. We had been told to wear long sleeves and pants so any bare skin was covered as a matter of respect.This long covered space along the side of the mosque is the ablutions facility (there is another one on the other side as well) where the men wash the parts of their bodies that are generally exposed to dirt and grime (hands, mouths, noses, face, head, ears and feet; each three times).  This is called the Wudu and in this way they enter a state of purity before Allah, having removed the impurities from their bodies before entering the mosque to pray.

       The mosque can accommodate 10,000 men during prayer.  Sultan Ahmed, who was then 14 years old, ordered the building of an Islamic counterpart to Hagia Sophia, which was at that time a Christian church.  The beautiful mosque was constructed between 1609 and 1616 and is a “triumph of harmony, proportion and elegance.”  The official name of the mosque is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque but everyone, except the Turks, calls it the Blue Mosque because of all the blue patterned Iznik tiles (21,403 of them) covering the walls and ceiling domes.  It must take this fellow a long, long time to vacuum this huge carpet.  There were so many different colours and patterns of tiles.  Every surface was covered.  It was very lovely even if I found it a bit of a sensory overload. Another short walk took us to Topkapi Palace, built by order of Sultan Mehmet II (the Conqueror) after his army stormed and sacked Constantinople in 1453.  The palace served as the official residence of the Ottoman sultans and the royal court until the mid-19th century.  Topkapi means “cannon gate.”                                            People, people, people.

The place has a pretty nice entrance.  Our guide gave us an overview of the 3-5 different sections of the palace and then sent us off for 45 minutes to wander.  Obviously, not nearly enough time to do such a huge place justice, and the long lines to enter the rooms ate up quite a bit of our time.  Still, we managed to go through quite a lot of rooms before we had to go to our assigned meeting spot to go on the separate tour of the Harem rooms.

The palace consists of courts, pavilions, mosques, fountains and a rich Treasury section.

                                                                                 I love the shape of the fireplaces. These long lines were to go see the crown jewels and other items in the Treasury.  We didn’t even think about it.  The ‘jewel’ of the treasury is the 86-carat ‘Spoonmaker’s’ Diamond.

To visit the Harem rooms of the palace you need a second ticket; which our tour included.  We think of the harem as the place where all the concubines lived, but it was more than that; it was the home of the sultan and all the members of his family – and, of course, the concubines.  There was a very strict hierarchy observed between all the various family levels. Apparently every single square inch of every single room and surface must be covered by tiles of different colours and patterns. It almost makes your head spin after awhile.  I’m not a real pink loving girl but this dome was very pretty. This wall could be used for a colour blindness test, or an analysis of the shapes and colours interpreted by the brain.

And, then it was time to go for lunch!                                         Part two in another blog.

Istanbul (formerly called Constantinople) is the only city in the world that spans two continents.  The Bosporus strait that separates Europe from Asia runs through it and as you cross the bridges you are welcomed to Asia, or welcomed to Europe depending on which direction you are heading.Hagia Sophia – built in the 6th Century by order of Emperor Justinian who was determined to build the word’s most magnificent church.  It took thousands of workers more than five years to complete.  For 1,000 years it was the largest church in the world. Hagia Sophia was an Orthodox Christian church and was later converted into Muslim mosque.  It is now a museum.The Sultan Ahmed Mosque – called the Blue Mosque due to the blue tiles adorning much of its interior, is considered the national mosque of Turkey.  It was built between 1609 and 1616 during the reign of Sultan Ahmed I.

Istanbul is Turkey’s largest city and the chief commercial and cultural center.  The city was founded in the 7th Century BC as Byzantium, renamed Constantinople in the 4th Century BC by Roman Emperor Constantine, and again renamed Istanbul in the 10 Century AD.  Istanbul in Greek simply means “the city.” Our ship docked at noon and stayed put for three days.  We did a two-part tour on days one and two that took us to the major ‘must-see’ spots in the city.  Day three we visited the stunning palaces of the Ottoman Empire.  Needless to say there was photos, photos, and more photos taken all three days.  And we were blessed with beautiful weather as well. We left the ship at one and went to the famous Spice Market in the Grand Bazaar; which sells everything and anything and is a huge labyrinth,  jam-packed full of tiny shops and many, many people.  It was very noisy with all the conversations and the shopkeepers vying for customers.  We walked straight through the middle of the main aisle, turned left and went to the end of that aisle which took us to an exit.  From the Spice Market we walked to the Bascilica Cistern.  The Cistern (also known as the Underground Palace) was built during the reign of Roman Emperor Justinian in the 6th century.  It is a huge, one-two acre, underground fresh water reservoir.  The ceiling is supported by 336 Corinthian columns; many of them different shapes and heights with bases adjusted accordingly.  Perhaps they were an early recycling project; using columns from old fallen or abandoned buildings.

The bus took us back to the port and we boarded a motorboat for a one-hour cruise on the Bosporus Strait, considered one of the most beautiful waterways in the world.

We cruised up the Eurpopean side before turning around and returning on the Asian side.  The shoreline is home to many old traditional wooden Turkish villas and 19th-century Ottoman palaces.

Lots of folks sit along the shore and watch the comings and goings on the busy waterway.                          It’s Asia on the left and Europe on the right.            Many of these homes would sell for 25-30 million Euros.                     There are more than 135 mosques in Istanbul.  Beylerbeyi Palace and one of the summer houses on the grounds.These young fellows were having a lot of fun jumping into the water.  I can’t imagine it would be very warm in early April, but they didn’t seem to mind.The tulip was developed in Turkey and later taken to the Netherlands.  Turkey has a one-month long tulip festival every year and there were flowers blooming everywhere.  It was very pretty.

Istanbul was the end of the first leg of this 64-day cruise.  There were 100 new guests arriving.  I never did find out if anyone got off.  Our first day was great with a very interesting afternoon tour.  The next day’s tour was all day – eight hours seeing the sites.

The ship remained docked in Istanbul until five o’clock, so we had another opportunity to see some of the historic sites.  This day we visited two of the famous palaces built by the sultans.  First was the absolutely massive Dolmabahçe Palace, located on the European side of the Bosporus, which stretches almost 580 m (1990′) along the shore.The palace was constructed on land created in the 17th century when the bay used by the navy fleet was filled in.  The new land was used as an Imperial Garden.  There were several buildings on the site but they were demolished and construction of Dolmabahçe Palace took place between 1843 and 1856.

Since completion the palace was the home of six sultans and the last Caliph.  Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the army officer, revolutionary, and first President of the Republic of Turkey stayed in the palace for about four years between 1927-1938.  Up to 1949 it was used a a Presidential House.  It was opened to the public as a palace-museum with its original furnishings in 1984.

The various arms and annexes on the building used to house a glass factory, smelter, aviary, stable, and other specific uses.  The main building was divided into three functional spaces.  The first was the Administrative section where the country affairs were discussed, the second is The Privy Chambers (Harem) where the Sultan and his family lived.  The final part was the Grand Ceremonial Hall where dignitaries of state were received on religious or ceremonial days.

There was a mix-up over our entrance tickets and we (all three bus loads from the ship) had to wait about an hour until a person from the tour company could arrive and straighten it all out.  These things do happen sometimes.  The tour staff person arrived on the run to fix the problem for us.  Fortunately it was a nice day so not a major hardship to stand around outside. We walked through a beautiful garden to the palace entrance.             Oh, the glorious hyacinths!  I love the perfume.                                                  The Imperial Gate

The palace has 285 rooms, 44 halls (ceremonial reception rooms), 68 toilets and 6 Turkish baths.  It is the largest palace in Turkey covering 14,500 square meters (157,000 square feet).  It was beyond ornate!  Gilt covered everything.  It is said that 15 tons of gold was melted for the decorating.  There were no photos allowed inside but I took some photos of the pictures in the brochure to give you an idea.  (They are not really sharp photos, I’m afraid.  I was too lazy to set up the tripod.)                        President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s bedroom             The Library of Caliph Abdülmecid (the last Caliph of Turkey)                                            The Crystal Pavilion                                        Sultan’s Private Bathroom   The Grand Ceremonial Hall                                   The Red Room                                                          The Blue Room                                         The Reception Room                                                            The Pink Hall

The place was chock-a-block full of priceless artwork, vases, furniture and incredible chandeliers.  Obviously money was not in short supply!

I guess if we are tired we can just lie on the lawn and have a nap.  The line of people waiting to go inside and tour the palace was still long when we left.  Dolmabahçe Palace is on the European side (not far from where the ship was docked) and our next palace, the smaller summer palace of the Sultan’s brother was on the Asian side – so a bus ride across the bridge was necessary. Beylerbeyi (means “Lord of lords”) and the surrounding hillside has been used as a residential area since the Byzantine period.  The wooden palace buildings on the site during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839) had burned. and a new palace was ordered by Sultan Abdülaziz and constructed between 1863-1865.

Beylerbeyi Palace is a summer residence used especially to entertain foreign statesmen. There are three stories including the basement, 24 rooms and 6 reception halls.  The floors are covered in Egyptian straw mats.  Carpets are primarily from Hereke, Turkey.  There are French Baccarat crystals chandeliers, English and French clocks, vases made in China, Japan, France, Germany and Yildiz, Turkey.  Plus, plus, plus.

Access to the palace grounds is through a tunnel which was built between 1829-1932.  It was used as a highway but is now used for cultural and artistic events.

 The Bosporus Bridge built in 1973 passes just north of the Marine Kiosk.

                          I loved the lions on either side of the entrance.As at Dolmabahçe there were no photos allowed inside the palace.  So, once again I have inserted some photos from the brochure.                      The Upper Terraced Garden and Yellow Kiosk.                                                                                This is simply room no. 13.This is a two page spread in the middle of the brochure so the center fold is quite prominent.  It is called the Blue Hall.                                                  And this is room no. 26.

Queen Victoria gifted the Sultan of the day with a 4 1/2 ton crystal chandelier that hangs in the ballroom.  I loved Beylerbeyi.  It was as ornate as Dolmabahçe but I found it somewhat cozier due to the smaller size.  From the water you can get a lovely view of the two bathing pavilions – one for the harem women and another for the men.

                                   This is the glass pavilion tea and gift shop.  And then, it was back on the bus for the ride across the Bosporus Bridge to the European side and the ship.  We had a few hours before sailing at 5 so we thought about finding a good internet place but we decided instead to just rest our feet in the cabin.  The captain set sail at five and we had a lovely sail up the Bosporus Strait on our way to Romania.

Our tour of the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey is almost over.  We have walked through the Agora district, down Processional Way, along Curetes Street and up three levels of Terrace Houses on the hillside.

After leaving the Terrace Houses, which are right at the end of Curetes Street we turned on to Marble Street and almost immediately were at the amazing Library of Celsus.

Ephesus over the years was hit by many earthquakes so parts of the city have been built and re-built after each disaster. Such a tragedy occurred in AD 270 and destroyed the Library.  It took 8 years (1970-78) to reconstruct it according to the original. The library was built in 117 AD as a monumental tomb for the famous Governor of the Province of Asia, Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaenas by his son.  The governor is buried beneath the ground floor.  There were about 12,000 papyrus rolls kept in niches along the interior walls. The library was the third richest in ancient times.
Marble Street goes past the Grand Theatre and down to Harbour Street where the Main Entrance to the city is located. At the corner of Curetes and Marble Streets there was the brothel, marked by distinct ‘signage’ in the stone. The Grand Theater of Ephesus was the largest in ancient Turkey.  It was able to seat 24,000 people and took 60 years to build.  It was originally Greek, but converted to Roman usage. On the other side of the theater was the site of the Gymnasium.  This area was being used as a sorting ground for all the pieces. Harbour Street leads directly to the Main Entrance of Ephesus and the conclusion of our tour. This four-part blog on our time in Ephesus includes less than half of the photos I took and very little of the information we were given.  It was an incredibly awesome day and I am so thankful we were able to visit such a marvelous historic site.

The final part of our day-long tour in Ephesus took us to the amazing Terrace Houses located on a hillside above Curetes Street.  Work on excavating these houses began in 1960 and archaeological work is ongoing every year.  The exposed shops and houses were being affected by the elements so a very airy roof was built over the six houses excavated so far.  Glass-floored platforms let you see everything as you walk through the houses and up the three different terrace levels The first thing we saw after entering the Terrace Houses was the Marble Hall which archaeologists hope to completely restore by putting 120,000 pieces of broken marble back together.  Ahmet, our guide, asked us what was the strongest material in the world?  His answer was silk.  He said that the slabs of marble put onto the walls were cut into such thin slices using silk. Twisted strands of silk-worm silk, when held taut and rubbed back and forth across stone, wet, is apparently strong enough and durable enough to cut through marble as if it was cheese.  It takes a lot longer than slicing up a block of cheese, but it’s just as effective.  How clever is that?                 You better like jigsaw puzzles to work in here.

On this map, the Terrace Houses are under the white roof in the lower center of the photo, at the end of Curetes Street. It is incredible how rich the colours still are on the wall designs.  They were painted over 2000 years ago.  I bet our modern paints wouldn’t keep that well. The paintings on the walls are frescoes – water colour paintings made on wet plaster.  The paint soaks into the plaster as it dries and becomes very permanent. The two photos above are one of the bathroom.  There was running water, a heated floor and a sewer system.  From the top terrace of the houses looking down Marble Street. From the Terrace Houses we continued our tour of Ephesus, going down Marble Street, past the Library of Celsus, to the Grand Theater and out the Main Entrance.  Blog to be continued…