2-Day Small-Group Tour Highlights of Ephesus from Izmir

Izmir - Ephesus - Izmir ( Lunch )First stop will be the House of Virgin Mary. It is written in the bible that Jesus entrusted his mother to his beloved desciple St. John the evangelist. After the crusifixion of Jesus, St. John and Mary escaped from Jarusalem because of the torture to early christians and came to Ephesus and spent her final years at Ephesus.It is time to visit famous ancient city of Ephesus walking through history along marble streets lined with wonderful public buildings, among them The State Agora, Odeon, Memnius Monument, the Temple of Domitian, , Polio Fountain, Curetes Street, The Trajan Fountain, The Baths of Scholastica, Hadrian Temple, Latrina, Celcus Library, the gate of Mihridates and Mazues, Commercial Agora and The Grand Theater are two of the most impressive buildings in Ephesus. Grand theatre was built in 3rd century B.C and it was later expanded to 24.000 spectators by the Romans in the 1st century A.D.We will complete our tour after visiting Temple of Artemis where is the one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple was dedicated greek fertility goddess Artemis and built in 3rd BC. According to its giant size and being the first temple made of marble, a Greek poet named Antipater listed it one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.Drive back to Kusadasi and drop you off to your hotel.

Izmir - Priene - Miletus - Didyma - Izmir ( Lunch )08.00 a.m. After breakfast, pick up from your hotel and depart for the ancient Anatolian-Greek city of Priene in the forest overlooking the fertile Meandros Valley. Priene was an ancient Greek holy city and the home of an important temple of Athena.Continue to Miletus, one of the most important commercial and governmental cities from 700 BC to 700 AD among all the ancient Ionians cities. We will discover the Roman Theatre and the magnificent Faustina Baths.Last, but not least, we arrive in Didyma. Here you will find the largest Ionic Temple in the world, that of Apollo. Also in Didyma lies the huge, cracked head of Medusa which long ago fell from the frieze. Drive back to your hotel in Izmir