Ephesus - The Terrace Houses Revisited

Two days  after my peaceful trip to Iassos, I went to Ephesus.  At one point in the mid 1980s, I was in Ephesus at least once a week, so I'm well aware of how crowded it gets and always try to get to the top gate before the coach-party hoards descend.  At its zenith, Ephesus had a population of over 300,000 so the teeming multi-national throng that fills the streets today are, give or take an iphone, camera and baseball cap, not that different to the crowds 2,000 years ago.  It wasn't an enjoyable experience, battling down Curetes Street with Japanese in one ear, French in another while trying to keep up with our guide who had neither flag, umbrella nor height to distinguish himself.

If not careful, it's easy to miss the best part of Ephesus; the Terrace Houses.  Most of the guides leave them out as there is an additional 15 TL entrance fee but the large sheds you can see on the left of the above photo, cover the buildings which housed wealthy citizens for some 600 years from the first century AD. I first saw these villas about 25 years ago and was lucky enough to be allowed to walk from room to room around the central open courtyard that was the only source of light in the buildings. Not surprisingly, they were then closed to the public while more excavation was carried out and walkways built to protect the mosaics and paintings. 

There is a lot more to see 25 years later and work is still going on to preserve the fantastic wall paintings and reconstruct marble tiled reception rooms.  I was so fascinated with the multitude of rooms on show that I forgot to take photographs until I got almost to the end. 

This mosaic of Triton and a water nymph seemed familiar as I looked down on it from the glass walkway at ceiling height. When I got home I found a photo in my album of the same mosaic and 

a view from inside the courtyard where it is still in situ. This picture, despite its terrible quality, takes me right back to the first time I set foot in the houses. It felt as if their Roman occupants had just popped off to the agora for a jar of honey and would be back any minute.