April 3: Aphrodisias and a long drive

We can probably hear the muezzin better than anyone else in Kalkan, since we are on a level with the speakers of the minaret and they are only 40 feet away.  Fortunately, as the final call to prayers is broadcast, we are listening to the comforting sounds of a very good singer.  Today we saw the beautiful city of Aphrodisias, and made our way to the Mediterranean coast.

We were sorry to leave the Melrose Hotel in Pamukkale, and especially sorry to leave the wonderful cooking and the kind family who run the place, but excited at the thought of heading to Aphrodisias.  We drove through orchards in full bloom, up into the hills just south of Denizli.  We travelled through snowy mountain passes, with soil that was impossibly red – not orange, but truly red – and covered in newly emerging wheat, and arrived at the Greek city of Aphrodisias.  

 This city is dedicated to Aphrodite, but more in her form of Cybele.  The city was originally Greek, and Greek was the language here for most of its history.  Of course, the Romans came along, then the Byzantine Christians.  Each of these groups left a house of worship, and each lived in a city of outstanding natural beauty.

We could not have asked for a more glorious day to view the city.  It is in the mountains, still snow-covered and standing out against the vividly blue sky.  An entire village was moved from this site following an earthquake in 1956 to allow for archaeology, but the gardens and orchards of this village left their traces all over the site.

Fruit trees in the New Agora

 We first saw the Sebasteion, which is a temple dedicated to the worship of the Roman Emperor.  The original marble panels have been removed to the museum to protect them, but copies have been put into their place so that you can see the original effect to some degree.

The Sebasteion, or at least a sort of idea of it. 

The theatre is built into the side of a tell, or an artificial hill made by an earlier civilization, and across the stage is a quote from Augustus, putting the city under his protection.

Me, giving a standing ovation.  Ian is taking the picture from the stage.

The first story of the theatre building, in Doric style.  Part of the inscription, by Augustus, reads "This one city I have taken for my own out of all Asia."

We had a lovely ramble through the theatre baths, which are largely complete due to their arches, which seem to the the construction most likely to withstand an earthquake.  Some of the marble facing still survives, and there are places where you can still see the drainpipes in the walls.

 Ian was thrilled to find a very large lizard and was then terrible upset to find a dead tortoise.  It was on its side, and Ian kept thinking that if he had only been a day or two earlier, he could have saved it. 

Ian really is looking for lizards in this picture.

 The agora, or marketplace, had needed to be moved in antiquity, when an earthquake had caused the main agora to flood.   The purplish marble columns now stand in an orchard, and the marble acanthus leaves lie on the ground beside real acanthus plants. 

Although we enjoyed the theatre baths because we had them all to ourselves – aside from nesting birds and the odd lizard, the baths of Hadrian were much more elaborate and even had their original marble floors.

We passed by the ruins of the city, looking like Pompeii cut off at the knees, and saw the workshops of the sculptors. Aphrodisias had a great sculptor’s academy, and  works in various states of completion, and of varying technical mastery, were found at the site.  In my opinion, the marble scenes from the sebasteion rival those of the Parthenon in beauty.

The actual temple of Aphrodisias has been partially reconstructed – the columns put back up, but as the Byzantine church.  The Odeon, looking like a little theatre, is also fascinating, although the speaker's pit was filled with about three feet of water.

The stadium is very well preserved, and one can just imagine the gladiators coming out of the tunnel at either end.  Many of the seats show which guild or group was allowed to sit there.

The monumental gate, of Tetrapylon, has also been reconstructed, and now stands near the grave of the archaeologist, Professor Erim, who dedicated his life to creating this site.

Our last stop was the museum,  where coins, statues, glassware, jewelry, and other items of daily life are on display.  Of course, the highlight is the room where the statues of the sebasteion are on display, each with a caption explaining the myth, symbol, or member of the imperial family is portrayed.  Although we read every caption, I still bought the guide that has all of the pictures.  After all, the money goes to support the archaeological fund!

We stopped for ice cream, which we  shared with some kittens, and then began our long journey to the coast.

Along the way, we stopped to fill up on diesel and met a young man who had just purchased the local gas station, but who didn’t have a licence to sell diesel yet.  Instead, he invited us in for tea, and told us his story.  His grandparents were from the village, but had moved to Melbourne Australia with their young family in the early 70’s.  He had gone back to Turkey with his wife and son and had bought the business.  He had just bought a tea dispenser, so we were glad to help him break it in.

We drove through the mountains and towards the coast.  As we did, we noticed it getting warmer.  Near the end of our trip,the Gimli decided to take us down back roads again.  There were lots of times we needed to pull over for sheep and/or goats.  There were places where landslides had almost closed the road.  We saw trout farms, a gorge that is famous for hiking, and pine forests.  I was amazed to see several women with piles of branches and brush as big as they were themselves strapped to their backs.

This nice lady noticed we were taking pictures of a goat traffic jam and held up the baby goat she was carrying for us.  We have found the Turkish people to be very friendly, kind, and willing to go out of their way to help bumbling strangers like us.

At last we arrived in Kalkan, at our pension.  We walked around the harbour, and Ian bought a new bathing suit.  We ate dinner outside overlooking the harbour, in our shirtsleeves, near some palm trees, and I realize I don’t have enough cool clothes, although Ian says I look cool whatever I wear.  Do you think he doesn't want me to spend money?

Turkish beds are much firmer than we are used to, and this one comes without a top sheet, just a bottom sheet and a bedspread.  Still, I can’t wait to be in it and asleep.  We are here for four days, including at least one at the beach!