Saturday, 3 February 2018

Ephesus Cats


Jake meets a local feline in the Latrine

Type "Ephesus Cats" into a search engine and you will find that the feline inhabitants of Turkey's most impressive ruin are almost as famous as its splendid library and theatre. Look for "Ephesus Dogs" however and it will be a stray labrador-cross, that gate-crashed Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony No 4 and sat down beside the Vienna Chamber Orchestra's first violinist last June, that grabs the headlines (and rightly so - obviously a music lover, he had the best seat in the auditorium). You Tube clip


Along side the hundreds of online photos of cats in Ephesus I add my own picture of my ailurophile friend Helen capturing a few more shots of a friendly feline in the bath house. . 


Most visitors assume the cats are wild and uncared for, existing on handouts from tourists. Luckily this is not the case. If you use the toilet block at the theatre (lower) entrance of Ephesus, you will see alongside feeding bowls on the wall, a discrete collection box.  Veli, who looks after the WC block, uses the donated money to buy food and medicines for the cats that live in the ancient site.  


So even if you don't want to spend a penny at Ephesus, please visit the loos and drop a few lira into Veli's money box.
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13 comments:

  1. Alan3 February 2018 at 17:35

    :-) enough said!

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  2. Terra 3 February 2018 at 20:38

    What a good guy.

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    1. BacktoBodrum5 February 2018 at 13:21

      There are lots of good people around, quietly looking after the street dogs and cats,

      Delete
  3. Mark and Jolee4 February 2018 at 08:06

    Being birdlovers as we are, it would be good if some of the donations were going toward neutering the cats.

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    1. BacktoBodrum5 February 2018 at 13:22

      I need to check but I expect that is being seen to.

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  4. Jane4 February 2018 at 11:42

    I haven't been to Ephesus for years ... I would like to make time to visit it again. I love the way people here in Marmaris care for the street-cats and free neutering is provided by the council.

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  5. Jack Scott4 February 2018 at 17:26

    All you need is Elaine Paige singing 'Memory' in the amphitheatre!

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    1. BacktoBodrum5 February 2018 at 13:23

      Not being a Musical person, I'm assuming that is from Cats

      Delete
  6. Ozlem's Turkish Table4 February 2018 at 20:30

    Bravo Veli; I must say whenever I was in Ephesus, the cats always looked well and properly fed - with thanks to Veli. Missing Ephesus - cok sevgiler, Ozlem xx

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    1. BacktoBodrum5 February 2018 at 13:23

      Some were a bit battered but they were being treated.

      Delete
  7. Joy6 February 2018 at 14:01

    Oh how I miss the Turkish kediler! Having our neighbor's cat hang out in our small patio in London isn't quite the same. ;)

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