Hours.
Smyrna.
Ephesus	12 or 14
Ghieuzel Hissar	12
Sultan Hissar	5
Gheyra	9½
Laodicea	13
Hierapolis	2
(Return to Laodicea)
Tripolis	4
Bulladan	9
Philadelphia	5½
Sardis	9
Thyatira	10
Pergamos	12
Avriamasti	8

The direct road to Ephesus from Smyrna is 12 hours; by Hypsile 14, the inland and safer road.

Hypsile, on the coast, is a small village on a lofty promontory. Here are to be found to the S. traces of the walls of the ancient Lebedos, and some fragments of columns amidst heaps of rubbish, which are the only remains of the city destroyed by Lysimachus.

Zilli, the site of Claros, possesses some interesting remains. It was the seat of a temple and oracle of Apollo. The prophetic cave and fountain is now a reservoir. The ruins of Christian churches are numerous here. Between Lebedos and Claros is a small islet, which was sacred to Diana, and is now called Pondikonisi. No traces are found of the ancient city of Colophon.

EPHESUS, 14 h. from Smyrna. The vicinity of Ephesus to the coast has enabled many travellers to visit this celebrated city, and the memory of the past has perhaps led them to indulge their imagination too freely, while contemplating the walls that remain. Thus a visit to Ephesus will often be productive of disappointment when the traveller finds the ideas associated with it not realised; but the ruins, though not striking, are very extensive. 4 h. at least are consumed in traversing them. Of the site of the theatre, the scene of the tumult raised by Demetrius, there can be no doubt. Every seat is now removed, and the proscenium is a hill of ruins. A splendid circus, or stadium, is tolerably perfect; it is 687 ft. long. One side of it was on a hill (Mount Prion), and the opposite side was raised on arches. There is also one of those gigantic piles called by some gymnasia, by others temples or palaces, like those at Pergamos, Troy, and Tralles. The ancient walls, on Mount Coressus, to the S. of the city, are specimens of Greek architecture. The ruins of Ayasaluk – distant nearly 2 m. W.N.W. from Ephesus – which arose 200 years ago, are entirely composed of materials from ancient Ephesus. The ruins of the church of St. John have sometimes been confounded with the ruined mosque, but they are different buildings; it is evident that the marble mosque was originally built as such, and is not an altered or adapted Christian church.

Ephesus is represented by Pliny as the ornament of Asia, and the largest and most frequented city in Asia Minor. The city, which was known to the Romans, and celebrated in their writings, owed its greatness to Lysimachus, the general and successor of Alexander the Great. It is situated in a plain bounded by Coressus on the S. and Galessus on the N. Two isolated hills stand in the plain; that on the N., the seat of the modern village of Ayasaluk; that on the S., Mount Prion, which forms the nucleus of the ancient ruins. The original Temple of Diana was considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. It was burned to the ground on the night Alexander the Great was born, fired by an incendiary, who was instigated only by the insane desire of making himself celebrated. It was rebuilt on a scale superior in grandeur and magnificence to that of any other Greek temple. It was 220 years before it was finished. This second edifice, familiar to all by the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, lasted till the general destruction of the heathen temples by the Christian emperors of Rome. There is very little doubt that the extensive ruins at the head of the port mark the site of this temple. This situation agrees with the description of Strabo. There is a cave in the neighborhood in which some peasants say a great number of marble statues may be found, but it has never been visited by any one capable of verifying the fact. They may be the statues of the Temple of Diana deposited there at the time of its destruction; and an investigation might compensate for the loss of time and the expense of purchasing the secret of the locality, which is known only to a few of the country people.

Christianity was planted in the city by St. Paul, and Ephesus became one of the 7 churches of Asia – of which mention is made in the Revelations. St. John resided here, and probably died here. His tomb is shown near the quarries, on Mount Prion, and that of the Virgin on Coressus. The village of Ayasaluk is evidently so named from a corruption of the Greek words Ayia Barıdun, or Ai vasilik, Ai being the usual contraction for Ayia. Another explanation is Αγιος θεολόγος in allusion to St. John "the Divine."

Between Ephesus and Ghieuzel Hissar it is worth-while to visit the ruins of Magnesia and Mæandrum, which are not far out of the road at a place called Inek Bazar. The traveller may turn off the main road to the rt. at a coffee shed called Balitschek Kanesi, 5 hours distant from Ephesus, cross the plain to the opposite line of hills, and an hour's ride brings him to the ruins, lying upon the northern slope of these hills. Fragments of the walls, pieces of columns, &c., lie in various places. About the S.W. corner of the city, near the top of the hill, is the stadium, of which the form and many seats remain. The view from this point commands the whole site of the city, and extends upon the other side of the ridge over the plain of the Mæander. The most interesting ruins are at the edge of the plain at the E. end of the city, where a peribolus wall is almost entire, and in the centre of it lie the ruins of a very large Doric temple: they lie in a confused heap, and among the fragments are several fine pieces of bas reliefs. The French have lately been digging up several of them here. The main road to Ghieuzel Hissar may soon be regained from this point.

Aidin, or Ghieuzel Hissar (the ancient Tralles), 12 hours: 30 m. Of the ancient city only enough remains to prove that it occupied the elevation above the present town. There are still standing some foundations of walls, and the ruins of a palace whose fine arches are conspicuous for many miles round. The modern town is 4 m. in circumference; it is the residence of a pasha, and a place of great trade, and next in rank to Smyrna. Bazars, shaded by trees, form the streets. It contains many fine mosques, Christian churches, and Jewish synagogues. The town is beautifully situated, surrounded by gardens and orchards, and commanding a fine view of the plain . The road passes through orchards of fig-trees and corn-fields, over the plain of

Sultan Hissar(ancient Nysa), 5 h., a Turkish village with a modern fortress; the ruins contain nothing defined. 3 hours farther is Nasi, a large village, near the site of Mastaura. 2 hours farther is the old castle of Yenisheher. 3 hours beyond is Karajasu. On the S. bank of the Mæander are the ruins of the ancient city of Antiochia ad Mæandrum, at the junction of the Karasú and the Mæander. Following the Karasú to the S. for nearly 10 h. is the site of

Gheyra, or Geira, at least 25 or 30 m. S. of the high road. It stands on the site of the ancient Aphrodisias, and is at least 30 m. from the site of Carura.

Laodicea (now called Esky Hissar) is 13 h. N.E. of Gheyra. At the entrance of the old city stand the massy remains of a bridge; a paved road leads to a triple arched entrance to the city. 2 theatres are cut in the side of the hill, of which the seats are tolerably perfect. The one facing the E. has been very handsome, the seats, all of marble, being supported by lion's paws. Several temples may be traced, but the principal remains are the vast walls which must have been built in the time of the Romans and Christians, although their purpose is involved in much doubt, as they seem inapplicable to churches. Laodicea suffered much from earthquakes. Its site is now deserted. The road descends into the valley of the Lycus, which it crosses diagonally to the N. to

Hierapolis (Pambouk Kalesi), 2 h.: 6 m. Here are the hot mineral springs of the ancient celebrated baths of Asia. The mountain on which the ruins are situated, a branch of Messogis, presents a most romantic and extraordinary phenomenon. The cliffs beneath the ruins appear like frozen cascades, an effect produced by the incrustations of the mineral waters, which rise from several deep springs among the ruins, and are also found in small rivulets for many miles round. The deposits thus left, over which the waters again flow, have raised the whole surface of the ground 15 or 20 ft., forming masses of this shelly stone, which impede the paths, and render it difficult to trace the ruins. The town, standing on the summit of the cliff, having the mountains for a background, commands a fine view of the valley. The ruins are crowded and extensive, and here again are similar to those ruins before spoken of, which in this instance may have been baths. The other remains consist principally of a theatre, a triumphal arch, a fine colonnade, many marble columns, some erect, and others prostrate, the massive walls of temples, and the ruins of several Christian churches and sepulchral buildings. The ruins are about 1½ m. in circumference.

Colossæ, a large and populous city, was in this vicinity, and it is supposed that the extensive ruins at Khonas, 3 h. from Laodicea, are those of Colossæ, which was subsequently called Χώναι, whence the modern Kh onas. The chief interest of the site is derived from the beautiful epistle which St. Paul addressed to the inhabitants.

We now return to Laodicea, whence the road proceeds to the valley of the Mæander, and crosses the river near Kash Yeniji, at which are the ruins of

Tripolis, 4 h. Here may be observed vestiges of a theatre, castle, and other buildings, but nothing is perfect. It was here that St. Bartholomew taught, and St. Philip suffered martyrdom.

Bulladan, 9 h., N. Thence by Aineh Ghieul, over Mount Tmolus, to

Philadelphia (called Allah Sheher, the city of God), 5½ h.: 16m., still a very considerable town, the residence of a Greek bishop. Of the ancient city but little remains; its walls are still standing, enclosing several hills, upon whose sides stood the town, but they are very ruinous. Some immense remains of buildings are called the ruins of Christian churches, but all the ruins so designated seem rather to bear the character of vast temples erected perhaps by imperial command, dedicated to nominal Christianity, but showing in the niches, &c. traces of heathen superstition. The present town is beautifully situated at the foot of Mount Tmolus, and contains about 3000 houses; 250 belonging to Christians, and the rest to Turks. It has several mosques, bazars, baths, and a khan. The town has suffered frequently from earthquakes. In 1390 it surrendered to Bajazet, and ever since the crescent has predominated over the cross.

Sardis (now called Sart), 9 h.: 36 m. The situation of this town is very beautiful, but the country it overlooks is almost deserted. This celebrated capital of Lydia is now reduced to a few shepherds' huts, and a mill whose wheels are turned by the famous river Pactolus. The owner of this mill is the only Christian resident of a place where one of the primitive churches was founded, which was the seat of a bishop, and the scene of meeting for several general councils. The remains of this city vary much in date – the early part, containing a theatre, stadium, and temples, may easily be traced, but the masses of wall composing the rest of the city merely indicate its extent. One very extensive building, called the Gerusia, or the house of Crœsus, is in singular preservation. 1 m. from the city on the Pactolus stand the remains of the colossal temple of Cybele. Its proportions resemble those of Agrigentum; 2 Ionic columns are standing, and the ruins of 4 others are to be seen, but as these are the only parts left to record the vastness of such a fallen temple, it seems doubtful whether it was ever finished. It dates its foundation previous to the Persian conquest of Sardis, 575 B.C. The appearance of the hill of the Aeropolis, which is rent by earthquakes into the most grotesque shapes, is very singular. The date of the foundation of Sardis is so remote that the name of its founder is lost in the lapse of ages. It became the capital of Lydia, and under Crœsus was one of the most flourishing cities in the world. On his defeat by Cyrus, 545 B.C., it passed under the Persian dynasty. After the battle of Granicus it surrendered to Alexander the Great, from whose time it continued under the Greek sovereigns, until it was given up to the Romans by King Antiochus. In the 11th century it was wrested by the Turks from the Greek empire. The celebrated Tamerlane took and destroyed it in the reign of Bajazet, since which it has gradually fallen to decay.

Thyatira, 10 h. The 5th of the churches.

Pergamos, 12 h. (Bergama). The 3rd of the 7 churches. Pergamos is 30½ h. from Smyrna, returning by Thyatira and Magnesia, and 20 h. by way of Avriamasti.