Second Outing, part 2: Selçuk

After you come down the hairpin turns on the mountain from Şirince, you find yourself in Selçuk.  The ancient sites here are an interesting mix of Roman and Seljuk.  


My nephew hadn't seen the Seljuk Castle or St. John's Basilica, so after some lunch we headed over to the site.  The two are right next to each other.   Unfortunately, the Castle is currently closed for renovation, so I was only able to get an outside picture. But we spent a fair amount of time wandering the grounds of the Basilica, led by Hubby, who had a part time job as a tour guide during college and knows the site well.

Entry sign in Turkish and English 

Outside view of the Seljuk fortress,
replete with picture of Ataturk
(like most structures in Turkey!)

Longer view of the fortress, with some artifacts from
the basilica grounds

View from the basilica grounds to part of the town
and the surrounding mountains 

Some remaining columns, with several capitals
in the foreground

Mediterranean flora

Columns and arches

Columns and lintels

Roman carved stone

Columns

Column inscribed with Christian symbol

The tomb of St. John

View from the basilica grounds of Isa Bey Mosque,
built circa 1375 c.e.

And that's it folks!  Back to regularly scheduled programming!

Second Outing, part 1: Şirince

Our second sight-seeing jaunt was really all one day, but we went to two places very near each other.  Since they are so different in character, I decided to post about them separately.  That, and I have too many pictures.

Şirince is a tiny village near Selçuk, which is near the ancient site of Ephesus, a little inland on the Aegean coast.  This was the third time I'd been to this village, and it was the most crowded, as the other two times were in early spring and late fall.  It's a very hilly village and has interesting old houses made of wood, along with stone cobbled streets and walls.  It was originally a Greek village, and it has a slightly different feel to it than other Turkish villages I've visited.  And of course now it's very tourist-oriented.


Take a look:

I know you've seen this one already,
but somehow it's the only photo I got
of the bazaar area.  Mostly tourist goods
are sold:  knitting, embroidery, felt, honey,
soaps, wine and olive oil products.

Red peppers drying in the sun.  Yum.

One of the old houses which has been nicely restored.

Nazar boncuğu - evil eye beads - embedded into the
cement between the stones in the walkways.
Theses are to protect one from getting the evil eye!

Nazar boncuğu aplenty!

Stone walls and walkway.

A hillside view.

Stone lintel (right) and stairs.

Some more old houses, in various states of repair.

OK, I didn't exactly tell the truth.  I did get this shot of
the bazaar area, but you really can't see anything but
the tops of the umbrellas!

First Outing: Sığacık

I was pretty much sick for the first week of our two-week vacation, but during the second week we took a few side trips from the small town where we stayed with Hubby's parents.  Our first little outing took us to Sığacık, just outside Seferishisar, Turkey.  Sığacık is a small, natural harbor, and the only town in Turkey to be awarded the Cittaslow designation.