Ephesus, the City of Cats

The final day of our excursion across Turkey brought us to Ephesus, the fabled Greek city, turned Roman city, turned ruin. Ephesus is situated in a small valley near Izmir, Turkey. Legend has it an oracle told Androklos, the Prince of Athens at the time, that a fish and a boar would lead him to a new settlement. Androklos (like any other sensible person) had no idea what that meant. However, one day as he was about to fry up a fish, the fish jumped from the pan and startled a boar, which took off running. The Prince followed the boar, which led him to the current site of Ephesus.

I saw no boars or fish at Ephesus, but that’s not to say the city was devoid of animals; Ephesus was teeming with cats. I happen to love cats, so naturally I had to pet each and every one of them. The cats were extremely friendly—even too friendly on occasion. A friend of mine had snuck some small sausages from breakfast and was feeding a few cats when one leapt from the ground and latched onto his chest. He was so taken aback that he dropped the sausage, and the cat jumped off after it. Since then he’s been a little more cautious about feeding the stray animals.

Ephesus was much more crowded with tourists than the other ruins we saw on our trip, which took away from the novelty of the city—it’s hard to marvel at the surrounding pillars, walls, and amphitheaters when you’re spending most of your energy weaving through tours and ducking under cameras. 

The most striking structure in Ephesus was the library, only the front of which is still standing. Ornately decorated with an impressive three floors, the façade stands high above the surrounding ruins. I spent a good half an hour sitting on the steps of the library petting some needy cats.

The last portion of the city that we visited was the theater, which supposedly used to be much bigger—only the bottom third remains today.

From an objective point of view, Ephesus was stunning and I would highly recommend seeing it if you’re ever in Turkey. However, after a week of seeing ruins, the novelty of walking among Roman pillars and sitting in Greek amphitheaters had worn off a bit (I know that sounds pretty bratty, but seeing so many ancient cities in close succession appeared to have this effect on all of us). This fact, coupled with the hundreds of tourists milling around, caused me to be a little underwhelmed by the city, especially since I had such high expectations for it.