as one of the world’s best preserved
medieval monuments. The castle now
operates as a museum, with the focus on
the Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
It overlooks the marina of Bodrum filled
with luxury sailing boats and yachts.
When it comes to culture, Ephesus is the
main attraction in the region.
Visit early when it is no too hot and
discover pillared temples, triumphal
arches and a theatre. You will get a real
feel for what life was like in Roman times:
the rutted marble-paved streets lined
with shops; clusters of ancient houses
and mansions decorated with frescoes
and mosaics; gyms, baths, exercise rooms,
even a brothel. Ephesus has a story for
every pile of stones. Here they used to get
slaves to sit on the marble toilet seats to
warm them in winter.
For a real treat, try Pergamum, an hour
and a half out of Izmir, and the place
medicine was invented. Galen came
from here but they were already curing
people before he left to make his name
in Rome. The wealth of the city was built
on olive oil, and Pergamum was very
wealthy indeed. Most of the ruins stand
on the acropolis, which has a spectacular
situation on a spit of land rising 1,000ft
above the modern city of Bergama.
Capital of the Attalid kings, it once rivalled
Athens and Alexandria as a cultural
centre. Its famous library, second only to
Alexandria, can be seen along with the
ruins of palaces, temples, an amazingly
steep amphitheatre cut out of the
mountain, and the foundations of the
temple of Zeus.
Even a couple of millennia after it treated
its last patient, the approach to Asclepion
hospital is daunting. There is a long
imposing marble approach road,
with pillars rising along the route and
beautifully carved symbols of saints
coming to drink from a saucer, before
visitors arrive at a set of steps. The trick
long ago was being able to walk up those
steps. Unless you could walk up you would
be turned away.
Antalya is one of the Mediterranean’s
most important cities and is Turkey’s most
fashionable holiday destination, with the
Konyaalti beaches on the west and the
Lara beaches to the east, lying at the foot
of a mountain range. The town is lively,
with palm-lined streets, beautiful parks,
plentiful accommodation, restaurants,
lots of night-time entertainment and a
cosy marina. The Asagi Düden Waterfall to
the east of Antalya flows over over-sized
boulders and into the sea.
West of Antalya is the little holiday
town of Kemer, famous for its sandy
beaches surrounded by pine forests and
mountains. The ancient cities of Perge,
Aspendos and Side are located on the
coastal plain east of Antalya. Many of
the newer developments are on the
south coast, east of Antalya, where long
stretches of beach are now home to selfcontained and glamorous resorts.
The next big town to the east is Alanya,
beneath the majestic Taurus Mountains
surrounded with orange, lemon and
banana groves, and famous for it ̀