What I Did On My Holidays - Part VI - Selcuk

We stayed at Selcuk, which is the ‘modern’ town closest to Ephesus (‘Modern’ in that the ruins only date back to the 6th Century . . )

We stayed at a guesthouse – Homeros Pension, which is a lovely family run place – worth some pictures of its own. Much of the furniture was made by Dervis, who runs the place with his sister and mother, and it feels closer to staying in a family home than an hotel.

We checked in, then wandered off to look around the town until supper time. Selcuk has a rather impressive looking citadel on a hill, and also the ruins of the 6th Century Basilica of St John (which was later converted into a mosque, fell down in an earthquake in the 14th Century and was excavated in the last century). Apparently, St John came to Ephesus & Selcuk in around 60 AD, and again in 97 AD (Which suggests to me that either he was very very young when he was a disciple, or very very old when he came to Turkey, or not very good at counting…) Or maybe all three. The basilica which was built in the 6th century replaced an older one which was destroyed in an earthquake.

We also found the remains of a roman aqueduct in the town, and (because that’s the kind of family we are) also found a very nice bar (whose name I forgot) where they gave us free freshly popped popcorn, and other nibbles to go with our beer.
Our meal, back at the pension was delicious. No such thing as a menu, we just turned up when we had been told to and were served with Mamma’s cooking – spicy soup, chicken, Turkish ‘pilaf’ (rice), and 2 or three other dishes of vegetables and salads, all served with wonderful fresh crusty bread and local wine. (99% of Turks are Muslim, but there is a secular government ands rules about alcohol are pretty relaxed – the local wines are unbelievably cheap – my sister buys local wine in their corner shop for around 3.5Lira a bottle, (which translates to around £1.50 or $2.25) and are very drinkable…) Despite it being out of season there were several other people staying – from as far afield as the US, Australia and Korea, so the evening was spent swapping traveller's tales. I can’t recommend it too highly for anyone who finds themselves in or near Selcuk.