Category: Ephesus

Ephesus is the best-preserved ancient city in the Mediterranean, and after guiding thousands of visitors through its marble streets, I can tell you it rewards curiosity like nowhere else on earth. My name is Hasan Gülday, I am a nationally licensed tour guide living in Kuşadası, just twenty minutes from the ruins, and this category gathers everything I have written about the city I know best.

Here you will find my articles on the great landmarks — the Library of Celsus with its two-storey façade that appears on every postcard of Turkey, the Great Theatre where twenty-four thousand people once watched performances and where St. Paul’s companions faced an angry crowd, and the Terrace Houses, whose frescoes and mosaics show how wealthy Ephesians actually lived. I also write about the quieter corners most visitors walk past: the inscriptions, the hidden symbols carved into the marble, the Temple of Artemis that was once a wonder of the ancient world, and the House of the Virgin Mary on the mountain above the city.

Some posts answer practical questions — how much time you need, which gate to enter from, what the site is like in summer heat. Others go deep into the archaeology and the stories, because I believe stones only become interesting when someone explains the lives behind them. That is what a licensed local guide is for, and it is what I have devoted my working life to.

Browse these articles before your visit and Ephesus will already feel familiar when you arrive. And if you would like to walk these streets with someone who has studied them for decades, I would be honoured to be your personal guide in Ephesus — you can contact me any time to arrange a day of guiding together.

*(~300 words)*