Wednesday, October 27, 2010

It's a Long Way to Kizkalesi; It's Even Further to Uzuncaburc

Our driving today, perhaps 50 miles tops, took us through Kizkalesi along the coast and then up into the mountains, through some incredible limestone gorges, for a look at Uzuncaburc and environs, the former Roman city of Diocaesarea.
Kizkalesi, the castle, a couple hundred meters off shore















Land-lubbing Korykos castle, back on shore; this part of the coast was built-up 
through Greek/Roman/Byzantine times, then depopulated in later years; much 
remains of the earlier times


















Arch at Korykos















Roman tomb on the way to Uzuncaburc




















East gate to Diocaesarea















Detail (paint still showing) from Temple of Zeus Olbius















Temple of Zeus Olbius















Another day, another amphitheatre















Hellenistic citadel/tower, standing close by (2nd-3rd century 
BCE)




















OK, the Greeks at this point are still working on the arch 
thing, but they are very, very close here...gravity+friction...
interior, ground floor






















Another day, another necropolis















We decided to stay up high in the mountains (3,500 feet), parked in what we think 
is like a national forest picnic area; so far, no sign of the park ranger; also no 
barking dogs, and for the first time in weeks, no calls to prayer at 5:30AM (we
hope)
















Elaiussa Sebaste 3

We did stay another day. Inertia. In the realm of productivity we at least listened to several more audio-tapes on ancient Greek history and culture and watched a few more video-tapes on classical archaeology. We now have a deeper understanding of the origins of Athenian "democracy" and of C-14 and thermal-luminescence, although we remain what might be termed "surface" archaeologists. I am still waiting for that jadeite hafted axe to wash up before me on the beach at Carnac. Oh, we did also clean out and reorganize a bit, for the thousandth time.
Seeing this sarcophogus on the hill behind our
"campground" and
















These temple columns moved me to walk up the hill















Past the amphitheatre, and a great view of the larger complex















To the village, and where many of the best smaller
specimens now reside
















Where work, real work, continues unchanged for aeons















Through a sizeable Roman necropolis, adapted now for
more contemporary needs
















Still pushin' up daisies (nasturtiums?) after 2,000 years!






































I never did get to the temple or the big sarcophogus--too much private property--people are friendly and welcoming, but one doesn't want to push it.

So I walked back down to the beach and tried my hand,
again, at fishing off these ancient rocks and pilings; I only
lost one lure and bobber before being reminded that I do
not have the patience to be a fisherman, particularly a
clueless fisherman



















Wednesday morning we did finally and reluctantly
depart our little refuge at Elaiussa Sebaste; its GPS will be
in Vicki's "practical highlights" on the website

















But not without acknowledging and feeding our canine
guardians of the past several days; particularly after
Romania, I have come to despise these feral dogs; but at
this beach, this big guy and his lady-friend (off shopping
when we left) exhibited the characteristics of territoriality and
loyalty for which the species is best known; they literally
guard the campers, lounging nearby but reacting fiercely
to any intruders; I gave them probably a kilo of some
Turkish spam I decided not to eat myself...which may keep
them going until the next campers arrive this weekend

Monday, October 25, 2010

Elaiussa Sebaste 2

Here are some pix from Elaiussa Sebaste across the highway...villa, agora, theater, and more. Incredibly, to us, this place is barely mentioned in the guidebooks.
Looking up from another spare parts pile toward the theatre















The Italian archaeologists identified three different levels of
settlement here: first, a Roman villa; then, the town agora
or marketplace; then, a Byzantine church; six hundred years
of habitation and development...and perhaps some Hittites
before that; anyhow, the intact mosaic here is from the villa



















One dome of the Byzantine church















Toothsome mosaic fish















Greek (Byzantine) inscription near the theatre (which they
might well have regarded with archaeological interest)
















In the theatre, center stage, I deliver some favorite lines
from Plautus (Pseudolus; A Funny Thing Happened on
the Way to the Forum)

















View from center stage; the site is right under current
residents..."Abdul, you'll never guess what they found in
the back yard..."

















Vomitorium (seriously)















View from the nosebleed section back toward the harbor and
our campground

















Back toward the north end of the harbor, much more
structure beneath the dunes

















I love arches...

Elaiussa Sebaste 1

So, after Mersin, the tollway ended and we got on the D400 coastal road, and marveled at the resort/beach development all along here, condos and pansiyons and what-have-you, and then--what was that?!--we pass a collection of Roman ruins, make a U-turn ("when possible," as Tom says), and resolve to park in the shade, have lunch, and explore the site. While I look at the archaeological signage, Vicki heads off into the adjoining municipal park/beach, and, through international RV sign language with a fellow (Turkish) RVer, ascertains it is indeed OK to over-night here. We pull in, find a shady spot about 50 feet from the ruins and 150 feet from the beach, and have been here now 4 days and 3 nights. We might leave tomorrow. Maybe not. There are other campers, tourists, swimmers, pick-nickers, fisherman, and two dogs that patrol the area. The ruins are far more extensive than we had first seen. It is an entire early empire Roman port city, fed by three different aquaducts. The "campground" is not paradise, but after the intensities and uncertainties of our recent travels, we are really enjoying the opportunity to stop at a scenic, historic, and safe place, and just do very, very little. And it's free.
So here we are; it's a small sandy cove, formerly a Roman
port, early empire (i.e., first century BCE); improved upon
by the Byzantines; abandoned, probably under Persian
pressure, 6th century


















We think this says "Municipal park/beach, foreign
wild-campers welcome"










Anyhow, we are here















Port ruins, overlaid by Byzantine governor's palace (all
this was excavated only in 1995-1999, by an Italian team)
















Arc of the great colonade, south side of port; there are
marble columns lying all around; the structure continues
on into the sand dunes...
















One of many spare parts piles
















Suna, a Swiss/Turkish businesswoman
camping by us the last few days, sporting
the 2 meter long snakeskin she found in
the ruins across the highway (next post);
she's fluent in German, Turkish, English,
French, and Italian; and fixed us a really
delicious Ottoman dinner this evening
























Vicki skyping with sister Marie; note innovative use of head
as antenna tower


Thalatta!

OK, it was the Black Sea in Anabasis, but we are happy to be again on the middle sea, much of which we saw last winter in Spain and then France. It is comfortably warm and dry, and there are reminders everywhere that we are in a different place. We'll be along the Mediterranean and then the Aegean for the next several weeks and are looking forward to the seascapes, warmer weather, some greater variety in cuisine, and, of course, history and archaeology at every turn. We camped at a wide spot on the beach, just below Titus' Tunnel. A local fisherman said it was a safe place, noting that there was a military installation just round the bend. After dark, they came out, guns, helmuts, body armor, the whole bit, to check us out. They looked at our passports, said it was OK, and then welcome to Turkey.

On the beach















View out the driver's side















Fishing at sunset















We tore ourselves away from this spot only on the
assumption there would be better ones ahead; here, an
Armenian castle north of Adana

















And camped in a citrus grove/rest area
outside of Tarsus




















Everything in bloom

Titus' Tunnel

From Antakya we drove (through much awful road construction) to the sea, the beach town of Cevlik, the Roman town of Seleuceia, which was Antioch's port. Seleuceia was subject to severe flooding from the mountains nearby above, so the Romans did pretty much what they always did: divert the river. In this case the diversion was a mile-long trench/tunnel, commissioned by the emporers Titus and Vespasian. Just as we started trudging up the hill, the two tour buses of veterans pulled up, so we toured with them and enjoyed a long chat with one whose English was excellent.
In the trench, with the vets















Looks pretty much like this, from the bottom















This large mountain is the coastal border with Syria, the
Mediterranean below
















A Turkish good luck tree (read Birds
Without Wings)




















Roman bridge over the trench















The actual tunnel portion was getting a new
access staircase and was closed




















At the end of the trail was a sizeable Roman necropolis















Interior view; do the shells make it Rococco? Did St. James
perhaps stop by here on his way to Galicia?
















The trail passed through assorted citrus and olive
groves; we are definitely in the Mediterranean now
















Olives, yum















Bucket of yum