Monday, October 25, 2010

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

Antakya Archaeological Museum

Antioch was an important Roman city, a cross-roads and trading center, and the archaeological museum contains a great number of very large mosaics and other artifacts. In general, we felt the quality/intactness of the mosaics did not approach what we saw in Gaziantep, but the collection still was impressive.
They were really big on sarcophogi in this part of the world















One of the more intact specimens















Eros and Psyche















"Who ordered the two pretzels deluxe?"




















River god and wife, again















Animal music lovers















Some very large specimens















Closer up















At this point the museum was over-run by 2 bus-loads of
older guys, all wearing grey pants, blue blazers, white shirts,
nice striped ties, and military decorations; turns out there
was a convention of local leaders of Turkish veterans'
associations meeting in Antakya, doing some of the same
sites we did; two of them had served in the Korean War



















Hittite lions















Spare parts garden

Antioch/Antakya

So, fresh from winning our plenary indulgences at the Church of St. Pierre, we drove right into centrum Antakya and found a parking place a mere two blocks from our main goal, the archaeological museum there. We had lunch at a nice place, Sultan Sofrasi, and then walked several blocks of the old town, and then, yes, visited another bazaar.
Baklava lite...made with Splenda?















At the restaurant, shooting a commerical or possibly that's the Turkish 
Anthony Bourdain
















I had read that, the further south you go, the spicier the food gets; the yogurt/mint 
soup was very good, but the chicken stew Vicki had and the beef-stuffed eggplant 
I had were pretty bland; can't go any farther south than this...


















Right on the main drag and the river




















In the bazaar; he couldn't explain, and we couldn't figure out, what it is he is 
making on the huge rotating grill...
















It comes out like the stringy stuff under the glass















Another day, another bazaar




















At the shoe repair shop















Rug merchants of yore




















Actually, we are in the market for some nice Turkish indoor/outdoor carpet...
















Downtown Antakya, bridge over the Orontes River

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Another Day, Another Cave: St. Pierre's in Antioch

From Gaziantep we headed further west, turning south after Osmaniye, and heading toward Antakya, the ancient Antioch. How Antakya comes to be part of Turkey is interesting. Formerly, until 1939, it was part of Syria, French Syria then. A plebescite took place, and the citizens of Antakya and its province voted to become part of the new Republic of Turkey. (The same thing happened, in the 1860s, with Nice; given a choice between being French or Italians, the Niceans voted overwhelmingly to become French; thus you might say that Antakya is to Turkey as Nice is to France; well, you might...). Antakya retains a bit of its French past; thus St. Pierre's church. We managed to find the church, in the near outskirts, and toured it before driving into ground zero Antakya.
Facade, 19th century, for St. Peter's, Antioch















Just enlarge and read to see this was a pretty important place 
for the earliest Christians; and, as you can see, Vicki and I 
both have plenary indulgences going for us now (whatever 
they are; does this mean we can park anywhere we like? only 
in Christendom? only in the Citta del Vaticano?)























Interior














Remains of mosaic floor














The baptismal font (no full immersion here)


















Ex Cathedra














Looking out to Antakya; in ancient times, it was the Empire's 3rd largest city; 
vied with Constantinople; then earthquakes and invasions laid it low; still has 
600,000 residents, however