Exclusive Ephesus, St John and Carpets

Take in a great overview of Ephesus, St. John's, a carpet demonstration/carpet shopping and a lunch of local flavors, all in less than six hours.

Meet your professionally trained exclusive tour guide and set out for Ephesus, 30 minutes from Kusadasi. 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 tour includes skip-the-line tickets, allowing you to start your Ephesus excursion at the upper Magnesia Gate and work your way down through the ruins of the city, ending near the ancient Harbor.

Along the way you will see 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. It has played host to programs as varied as Paul and his sermons to the Ephesians, to concerts by Sting, in part due to its remarkable acoustics.

You will walk along the Arcadian Way, where once Mark Antony and Cleopatra rode in procession. You will hear stories of Alexander the Great, the Virgin Mary, and many other famous visitors who walked the same marble streets that you are walking. Approximate time at Ephesus is 1 hour 40 minutes.

Following this visit, reboard your transportation for a very short drive to reach a small rug weaving village close to Ephesus, where you will be given information about this dying work of art as well as time for shopping. This is followed with a lunch of local dishes in the courtyard garden of the carpet center. Turkish salespeople expect you to haggle and quite often you can get 10-15% off the listed price. Treat it as an adventure.

Your last stop will be the Basilica of St. John. Your tour includes skip-the-line tickets, allowing you to explore this historical site where it is believed that the evangelist St. John spent his last years and was buried on the southern slope of Ayosolug Hill. Three hundred years after the death of Saint Paul, a small chapel was constructed over the grave in the 4th century. The church was transformed into a marvelous basilica during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565 A.D.). The monumental basilica, which sat on the highest hill in the area, was in the shape of a cross and was covered with six domes. Its construction, being of stone and brick, is an extremely rare find amongst the architecture of its time. Raised by two steps and covered with marble, the tomb of St. John was under the central dome, once carried by the four columns at the corners.

You will then return to the town of Kusadasi, approximately 30 minutes away.