The Virgin Mary House and Ephesus

(Robert) The day began at 8AM when a shuttle van picked us up around the corner of our hotel. After an awkward transfer to a different van we made our way to Selcuk to gather up the remainder of our group. While Selcuk is a bit closer to Ephesus than Kusadasi, there's precious little to do there compared to its more popular seaside sister city.

We made our first stop at what is commonly referred to as The Virgin Mary House. As the story goes, Jesus, upon his resurrection, had asked Saint John to see to the welfare of his mother, Mary. John choose a location safely hidden deep in the hills of Turkey for what would become Mary's final resting place.

More interesting is the story of how the location was re-discovered. In the 19th century, a stigmatic nun had a series of vivid dreams that revealed the location of Mary's resting place. As soon as the Papacy caught wind of the nun's wild claims, they sent representatives to confirm their veracity. To their surprise, the detailed descriptions she provided of the house and its location strikingly resembled a particular location in the hills of Turkey. Since then the location has been visited by three Popes.

The "house" is actually a small and modest chapel, built upon the ruins of the original house's 1st-century foundation. As soon as we entered, we took seats and entertained a moment of silence. Both of us felt a strong spiritual presence, while other visitors entered and payed their respects, some of whom were visibly overwhelmed with emotion.

Before exiting we collected a couple candles and left a donation. Just outside the chapel, I lit a candle for my grandmother, Iris, who, at the age of 93, passed away just a week earlier. It was an appropriate gesture for Iris, who was once raised by nuns in an Irish boarding school. For myself, lighting the candle provided a feeling of closure since I was not able to attend the funeral back in California. From The Virgin Mary House we made our way to Ephesus which was only a stone's throw away.

Neither Katherine nor I knew what to expect once at Ephesus. Having been on the move continuously for months afforded little time for catching up on ancient history. What we had seen in Athens was impressive, but nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to witness on this day. Time's effect on history can be savage. This is particularly evident in Athens, where the result of countless wars coupled with neglect, battered its Acropolis and once glorious temples into a handful of lonesome columns. One is forced to visualize what the collective of ruins would have resembled. Little imagination is required at Ephesus, because the framework of the entire city is still standing before your eyes.

As you walk down what is clearly a city street you are presented with frames of homes, doctor's office, merchant shops, library, stadium, and last but certainly not least, public bathrooms! Everything a small and vibrant city state could ever need is present at Ephesus. The library and stadium are both in extremely good condition and breathtaking in their own right.