From Istanbul to Ephesus

Each country’s individuality results from a combination of influences, both internal and external. Invaders pass through or settle, making a positive or negative physical and genetic mark on the country. As the meeting point of Europe and Asia, Turkey was invaded from the East by the Hittites, Mongols and Seljuks, with the latter’s Chinese name of T’un-Kin developing into the name Turk. Western influence came from the Greeks who destroyed Troy, Alexander the Great’s Macedonians who stayed to rule and the Romans who moved their capital from Rome to Constantinople.

Asia had the last word as the Seljuks established the Osmanli (Ottoman) Empire and eventually gained European Constantinople as its capital. Istanbul today recalls Byzantine intrigues, the treasures of Topkapi and the ‘Orient-Express’. Ephesus lies close to the site of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, with biblical associations to St. Paul and his Letters to the Ephesians. The extensive and well-preserved remains include the Roman Theatre and Baths of the Emperor Constantine, the Arcadian Way where Cleopatra entered in triumph, the Marble Way and famed Library of Celsus.

VJV Special Event - Ottoman Dinner
A drink in a typical Ottoman house followed by a candlelit dinner in the vaulted dining room of an ancient 6th-century cistern.