The North Aegean - West & South West Turkey

THE EPHESUS REGION (Ephesus & Pergamum)

3 nights, 4 day tour

Itinerary Day 1: Sardes, Birgi, Tire and the 'ghost village' of Şirince (near Selçuk).
  Day 2: A full day at Ephesus.
  Day 3: Priene, Miletus and Didyma.
  Day 4: Return journey.
Overnight Şirince (Nisanyan Houses).
Fly to Izmir (or transfer from The Lycian Coast).
Cost £1,200 per person
  or a £700 per person add on to an Istanbul or coastal holiday.

ISTANBUL, TROY, PERGAMUM & EPHESUS

4 nights, 5 day tour

Itinerary Day 1: Ferry from Istanbul to Bandirma then on to Biga.
  Day 2: Visit Gallipoli, Troy and Assos.
  Day 3: Visit Ayvalik, Pergamum and Şirince.
  Day 4: A full day at Ephesus.
  Day 5: Return journey.
Overnight Biga (MRG Hotel), Assos (Nazlihan or CemiHan Küçükkuyu) and Sirince (Nisanyan Houses, 2 nights).
Fly to Istanbul
(or transfer from The Lycian Coast if doing in reverse).
Cost £1,500 per person
  or a £1,100 per person add on to an Istanbul or coastal holiday

NIŞANYAN HOUSES

Şirince, near Ephesus

Our guests who visit Ephesus always stay in this fabulous property which is full of character. Please click here for further information.

A LITTLE INFORMATION ON THE REGIONS


TROIA (TROY)

Homer's city of legend.

Located between two continents and at the key point of trade routes, Troy was a sacred centre for thousands of years and of course the focal point of Homer's Iliad and the legendry Trojan war. The Persian King Xerxes visited the city of Priam to commemorate the Trojan heroes and centuries later, Alexander the Great, an admirer of Homer, offered sacrifices and exchanged his weapons with those allegedly belonging to Achilles before his successful campaign to Granikos.

In its 3000 years, nine ancient cities were built on top of each other and in the 3rd millenium BC, Troy II was one of the largest cities of Anatolia. Visitors to Troy get a chance to explore the city walls, the ramped entrance where Schliemann discovered the Priamos Treasure, remains of palaces along with holy grounds and an odeon from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

PERGAMUM

Pergamum started as a small fort built to store Alexander's war treasures taken from the Persians. Eventually the city dominated the area and founded a dynasty which, within less than two centuries, became the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Its library was beginning to overshadow the one in Alexandria which attracted the envy of the Egyptian scribes who blocked papyrus exports to Pergamum. As a result a revolutionary invention, parchment - pergamen in Latin - was made and named after the city.

Attractions include the hilltop Acropolis, the steepest and the most impressive amphitheatre in Anatolia, the white marbled Traianeum towering the Acropolis, the remains of the Altar of Zeus, along with other public buildings, aquaducts and temples.

To learn more of ancient medical treatment, a visit to the health centre in the lower city is a must. The Asclepion, named after Asclepios, the healing God of Medicine, treated mental as well as physical ailments and among the celebrities who visited him from far and wide were Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius and Caracalla.

EPHESUS (see also The Hidden Turkey Route)

With its monumental state buildings, temples, marble streets, Roman toilets and decorated private houses, Ephesus tells a wonderful story of life in ancient times.

With a population of 250,000, Ephesus was once one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the ancient world. Perhaps this was the reason why John is believed to have brought Mother Mary to Ephesus after the death of Jesus, in keeping with Jesus' admonition to John to care for his mother.

Equidistant from Hellespont and Lycia, Ephesus was the last stop of the Persian Royal road, an important trade route between the East and the West and the Artemission - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - attracted pilgrims from all over the Greco-Roman world.