CITY OF KUSADASI

Kusadasi, Turkey

This part of the world has been a center of art and culture since the earliest times, and has been settled by many civilizations since being founded by the Leleges people in 3000 BC. Later settlers include the Aeolians in the 11th century BC and the Ionians in the 9th century. Originally seamen and traders, the Ionians built a number of settlements on this coast, including Neopolis. An outpost of Ephesus in ancient Ionia known as Pygela, the original Neopolis is thought to have been founded on the nearby point of Yilanci Burnu. Later settlements were built on the hillside of Pilavtepe, in the district called Andizkulesi today. Kusadasi was a minor port, frequented by vessels trading along the Aegean coast. In antiquity, it was overshadowed by Ephesus, until Ephesus' harbor silted up. From the 7th century BC onwards, the coast was ruled by the Lydians from their capital at Sardis. From 546 BC, it was ruled by the Persians. In 334 BC, along with all of Anatolia, the coast was conquered by Alexander the Great. From then onward, the coastal cities were the center of a mixed Greek and Anatolian culture called Hellenistic. The Roman Empire took possession of the coast in the 2nd century BC. In the early years of Christianity, Mary (mother of Jesus) and St. John the Evangelist both came to live in the area, which in the Christian era was known as "Ania". The spirituality was not ingrained, since during the Middle Ages the port was a haven for pirates. Later as Byzantine, Venetian and Genoese traders began to work the coast, the port was founded, a garrison was placed on the island, and the town center moved from the hillside to the coast.

This stop on our Mediterranean cruise included tours of a few Roman ruins, still impressive in their ambitious scale. We also got to do a little Turkish rug trading, haggling over price and other details of the trade, and netting a beautiful silk rug for what I thought was a good price. The building in the middle of the sketch signed “Matis” is where we bought the rug. I got to take a long, morning run up the hillside of Kusadasi and was able to steal onto someone’s network in the port, and email ‘freely’ to home and business. The sketch was done from the ship’s lounge on the bow of the boat.