Ephesus and St.John with Basilica Tour

After breakfast, your pick up will be scheduled for 08:30am from the hotel to start the Ephesus Tour. Our Professional tour guide will be introducing the ancient sites of Ephesus.
We will drive to Virgin Mary’s House, upon the dream of German nun Anna Katherina Emerich, the Lazarist priests followed the descriptions and the signs then discovered the house 1891 CE. According to Catholic belief Mary was taken here by St. John and she spent the rest of her earthly life there. After the Virgin Mary’s House we proceed to Ephesus Ancient City, which was the capital city of the Asia Minor during the Roman era. According to myth, Ephesus was founded by Greek commander Androculos around 1,000 BCE. Moreover, Alexander the Great, Lysimachus, Coressus, Antiochus II either invaded or ruled in this city. While the excavations are still going on, you will see the ancient remains such as: State Agora (a marketplace and meeting point), Odeon (Bouleuterion) concert house and council, Town Hall and Artemis Sanctuary, Domitian Square a complex consisting of temple fountain and a bath, Curetes Street collonaded and monumental Street in Ephesus, The Hadrian Temple dedicated to Emperor Hadrian dating to 200 BCE, Latrines the public toilets, Celsus Library proves us that how Ephesians were intellectual and dates back to 200 BCE with the library having had 12,000 scrolls, Forum a commercial center located by the port and finally The Great Theater the largest ancient theater with 25,000 capacity. After Ephesus ancient city we drive to lunch at a local restaurant and thereafter the next stop is Isa Bey Mosque, built in 1375 by the Anatolian Seljuks. Unlike the Modern Ottoman architecture, it has a geometrical architecture roof and two minarets. The mosque is still functioning today for the five time prayers. After Isa Bey Mosque we drive to St. John Basilica, The Emperor Justinian (527-565) built the basilica of St John on the site of the saint’s fourth century church and tomb. With cruciform plan and six domes extending 110m. long, it was his grandest creation outside Constantinople. It conforms to a splendid architectural type first developed under Constantine I in the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Visit to the Temple of Artemis which was one of the seven ancient wonders of the World. After the Ephesus sightseeing tour, drive back to the hotel.

Note: Lunch at local restaurant.