Western Turkey:19 to 30 October 2010

Ephesus, Priene, Aphrodisias, Pergamum, Troy and Istanbul

Tour Leader - Rufus Reade

This autumn visit to the major classical sites of Aegean Turkey and Istanbul provides a chance to see some very important monuments when they should be free of crowds, at a time of year when the weather can be pleasantly mild. Ephesus is a large site which has been dramatically revealed. Following the main street past the temple of Hadrian down to the Library of Celsus, you may hear the hum of the crowd in the great theatre furious at the teachings of St Paul! South of Ephesus are the remarkable sites of Priene, Didyma and Miletus: Priene occupies wooded slopes, where we are reminded that the ‘standard’ measurements of classical proportions were recorded.

The huge fallen lozenges of the columns at Didyma recall Egyptian prototypes. Miletus has a more sombre aspect, sat on the plain where the sea has retreated making its harbour redundant. In contrast Afrodisias has an exuberant atmosphere: here some of the Mediterranean’s finest carving was executed in local marble and exported throughout the classical world. Pergamum exudes the sense of a sacred city sited on an acropolis. Our visit to Troy is one so charged with expectations that one has to be careful to remember that the city of Homer’s story was destroyed over three thousand years ago. Yet ‘windy Troy’ still captures the imagination as few other ‘cities’ in the western world can do.

The tour ends with 5 nights in Istanbul, which as Constantinople was the fabulous capital of Byzantium, and from the 15th century the capital of the Ottoman Empire until just after the First World War. We plan to explore Istanbul, either independently or in a series of guided walks. We will use public transport and taxis in Istanbul. For our tour through Aegean Turkey we plan to have the use of our own transport.

The tour is led by Rufus Reade who is a regular visitor to Turkey.
   

 Please take a look at Rufus Reade's Tour Site.