After meeting your professionally-trained guide, set out for the incredible ruins of Ephesus on your private shore excursion. Famous in antiquity for its temple of Artemis, during the years of the Roman Empire, the Greek port of Ephesus became the greatest city in Asia Minor.

Your private guide will bring the past alive as they help you discover innumerable monuments including the Forum, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus, the Thermal Baths of Scolastika, and the Great Theater built in the Greek era and reconstructed in the Roman period. The theater, where Paul preached to the Ephesians, is still noted for its remarkable acoustics. In every direction, you will see signs of a truly advanced civilization and marvel at the fact that one is still able to read the inscriptions in the ancient Greek language. As you walk along the Arcadian Way, picture the days when Mark Antony and Cleopatra rode in procession along the very same street.

As you depart the site of Ephesus, you may see the few remaining stones from the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, dating from around 550 B.C. You may also spot the ruins of the Basilica of St. John on a hill behind the town of Selcuk. The church was erected over his grave in the 6th century A.D. by Emperor Justinian.

Your next stop is at the Archaeological Museum located in Selcuk. Although relatively small, this is one of the richest and most important museums in Turkey. The museum is different from other museums in that it is not laid out according to chronological order, but by theme. The first exhibit one comes to is the Roman Period House Finds Room, with artifacts from the Slope Houses owned by upper class Ephesians. One of the most impressive and illuminating sections in the museum is dedicated to the mother goddess and dominated by two colossal statues of Artemis. As you tour with your professional guide, you will view relics from monumental fountains, which include a beautiful headless Aphrodite, a head of Zeus dating to the 1st century A.D., a statue of a youthful Dionysus with a satyr, and statues of Dionysus with members of the imperial family (these last are from the Fountain of Trajan).

You will also see a Sarcophagus with Muses from the 3rd century A.D. and the Ephesus Monument, inscribed with tax regulations, which was issued by Emperor Nero in 62 A.D. The final exhibit contains Roman sculptures, the most important of which is a frieze from the Temple of Hadrian. A copy of the frieze is in the original position on the elegant temple among the ruins. At the conclusion of your cruise excursion, you will return to the port town of Kusadasi where you will have the option of stopping for a Turkish Rug demonstration, or being returned directly to the pier.