Crash course in Western Civilization, Part 1

Wow! As much as I like a good adventure the past month I have been on a sensory overload. We have had some 20 ports of call in a one month period. My brain as well as my feet are tired. There were many changes from our originally announced itinerary because of weather but given the geography, good substitutions were found that provided much food for thought. I have taken literally hundreds of pictures and have little time to go back and curate them and to eliminate the many whoops, duplicates, and the what the hecks was I trying to capture. 

I did a quick review of the photos to help jump start my thoughts for this post and I was struck by the scale of the structures that have survived over the millennia.

I did manage to get off a short Facebook post which I entitled: Myths, Legends, Gods, Goddesses, Saints and Emperors, Oh my……These were centered in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in an area where we have not spent much time previously so this was almost all new to me. 

There were so many truly amazing sites and the stories that have survived are so fascinating. After being able to experience them first firsthand I only have more questions. Who was responsible for the original plans, financing and decision making? Who’s story is it to tell? Were there other, possibly conflicting, versions of what happened? 

Mostly what has been preserved or restored had to have been exceptional in their time. Someone had a vision, possibly an obsession to execute the creation of these fortresses, cathedrals, palaces and other works of grandeur. There had to have been ample financial resources, access to labor, whether voluntary or forced, and a commitment to complete the task. So many individual pieces were necessary to come together. Often fortunes were depleted, blood was spilled, and lives were lost before the projects were completed. I can completely understand historians and archaeologists desire to keep looking to the past to help provide context and meaning for issues we all still grapple with today.

Ports of call:

Siracusa, Italy

Old Roman church literally built around an ancient pagan temple. The pillars date back several centuries BC.

This cave dates back to the Greeks. It is immediately behind a very impressive amphitheater that was thought to be among the first amphitheater and was said to have rivaled that in Athens in the 2nd century AD.

This aqueduct has been continuously in use for 2,000 years.

This is a side street leading to a massive private palace that dates the building of the town of Noto which was built in 1693 after a major earthquake destroyed the original town. It’s built in the then popular baroque style. 

A former palace that has been repurposed as the current Town Hall.

That little island in the distance with the modest fortress was built by the Vikings. I had no idea they not only came this far but stayed for many years in the Mediterranean. Climate probably was an attraction.

Knossos, Crete

Claim to be the cradle of Western Civilization with some artifacts dating back some 10,000 years. The first permanent structure at this site dates back 2,000-3000 years BC during the bronze age. By 1,450 BC Knossos was in control of entire region. The legend is that Zeus was born on Crete, and this site is the home of the Minotaur. Language was evolving here with Linear A, a very early pictorial script which evolved into Linear B, which was an early written form of the Greek language.

Some of the surviving clay pots used to hold wine, olive oil, and honey. Interesting these same products are still widely used and appreciated.

The throne room with beautiful partially restored frescos.

An image of the Phaistos clay tablet which is an undeciphered syllabary found in Crete. I purchased a lovely necklace and earrings with this image to remind me of the mysteries of life.

Kadusha, Türkiye 

Unfortunately this was our only port of call in Türkiye. Both of us would love have spent more time there. It was one of our favorite excursions on the whole trip. We had a full day which absolutely enthralled us. A large portion of the day was spent at the site of Ephesus. This has a major biblical connection because Saint John and Mary lived in the area after the death of Jesus, and Saint Paul had three recorded visits there and it is where he was arrested and sent to Rome to be tried and killed. But before that it had been a huge pagan site with a Temple dedicated to Artemis. It had extensive facilities including a hospital, advanced medical care for that time, a large public market called the agora and a beautiful public library which allegedly had secret tunnels to the brothels across the plaza. Housing for the rich was highly decorated with mosaics and frescoes as well as water and some early form of heating and cooling and private bathrooms. In 300 BC Alexander the Great flooded the city to take control but there were two official religions allowed. In 41BC Marc Antony and Cleopatra visited. That’s a lot of fascinating history for one location. Absolutely enthralling. 

Evidence of the early existence of the Temple of Artemis.

The gates of Hercules, which separated different areas of Ephesus.

Hard to see in this photo of the library, which was the third largest known library in the world at the time, but the stone work is exquisite.

Some of the detailed artistic mosaics found in a private home.

After seeing the process of the ancient and highly respected work of weaving a silk carpet from harvesting the silk to the actual weaving we decided to purchase a small silk carpet runner. I hope this will go well with my handmade Berber carpet I purchased many years ago in Morocco. 

Woman demonstrating the intricacies of the weaving.

The process from the silk worm harvesting to producing the threads, very interesting. The three small looking beans are the actual worms out of their cocoons. 

A traditional Turkish coffee.

We had a lovely homemade lunch prepared from local ingredients by these two sisters and mama who helped supervise. They briefly shared a fascinating family story straight from the history books about which I knew nothing. In 1923 as part of the Treaty of Lausanne, some 2,000,000 people “exchanged” ancestral homes between Greece and Turkey. This family came to this village of Sirince in Türkiye from Greece.

Photo taken of our small group on the way to lunch with a couple of local lads. 

Rhodes, Greece

An artist depiction of the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was a depiction of Helios, the Greek sun god. The sculptor was Charles of Lindos. It was primarily bronze, estimated to have been about 108 feet tall. It stood for only 56 years before it was destroyed by a massive earthquake in 226 BC. In 654 CE Arab forces invaded, salvaged and sold the remains, which were then melted down for reuse. 

Ancient, continuously inhabited town of Lindos.

Just above Lindos in caves are ancient sites devoted to the Goddesses, Artemis and Athena. At the very top is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Beliefs atop beliefs.

Modern sculpture of playful dolphins in the harbor.