A farewell to Selcuk: the Basilica of St. John, Ayasuluk Fortress and the Isa Bey mosque, then a train ride to Izmir, and a plane to Istanbul

On our last day in Selcuk, we decided to visit the ruins of the Basilica of St. John which was constructed by Justinian I in 6 AD, and is supposed to be on the site of where John the Apostle ( one of Jesus' twelve apostles  and author of the Gospel of St John, the Epistles of John and Revelations) is buried.  Outside, you have a lot of salesmen trying to get you to buy everything from flutes to "genuine" Roman coins, but ignore any that claim they can sneak you in and go in the regular way.

 
To tell the truth, the site is more ruin than building,

and it is not very well signposted, but it does have some beautiful examples of stone masonry,

 stone carving,

 

mosaics

 

and terracotta pots

and  it is slowly but steadily being rebuilt.
 
 Apart from the sense of history, it offers some brilliant views of the town itself,

 the fertile wide valley which forms such rich farm land, the remaining pillar from the Temple of Artemis and the hills beyond.

Once we explored the Basilica area, we climbed on to the Ayasuluk Fortress which dates from Byzantine and Ottoman times and which presides over the town and also gives wonderful views of the area.

Inside, not much remains, but there is evidence of housing
 

a mosque

 cisterns

 and more great views

A bit of heatstroke meant we took a break, but once I had cooled down, we headed over to the Isa Bey mosque,

which has only one spire of its original two remaining, a big outside courtyard with synthetic carpets on the stonework,

  

an inner garden and fountain courtyard,

and an inner mosque which still functions.

After that, we returned from our hotel to prepare for leaving.

We will miss Selcuk.  Apart from the interesting chats with our host and some of the other residents that we met in the town ( nearly everyone we met seemed to be from Cappadocia !), we will miss the little frogs hopping around at night, the calls from the mosques echoing all over the town, the relaxed and friendly inhabitants who accepted with good humour when we indicated we didn't want to buy anything, the general niceness of the place.

Waiting for the train proved no exception, we sat under the trees in the park beside the station and drank tea while we waited, then hopped on the train for the 85 km ride to the airport.  As we were travelling at a busy time, we had to stand up a lot of the way, but watching the farming in the fertile valley that runs from Izmir to Selcuk to the sea was interesting, tea and bread sellers came through the carriage, plus there was a TV documentary on the sea to watch.  Announcements were in English and Turkish so it was all very civilised.  I got a seat beside a lady and we ended up having a prolonged conversation even though we did not seek each other's language.  I comforted her on her unhappiness about not living near her family, we compared grandchildren and children, we kidded each other on how we were coping with ageing, and she insisted on feeding me on cheese stuffed flaky pastry rolls and her homemade meatballs.  Such a sweet woman.  By the time I had to get off, We were at the hugging stage.

The airport at Izmir, Adnan Menderes, is new with interesting installations and some interesting art.  The plane trip back was very round about and involved a lot of circling but it meant that we got to see a lot of the landscape of Turkey- the fertile farming valleys and the rocky and forested hills, the coast with the Greek Islands so close to the Turkish shore, the Aegean Sea, the Sea of Marmara , and the Bosphorous.  And, once more, we discovered how kind so many Turks are.  In the airport, one man translated the instructions for us and made sure we got in the right line.  Our neighbour on board informed us of which sights we should not miss and advised us on good cafes and restaurants.

Istanbul looks familiar now.  we are staying one street away from our previous hotel.  Back to exploring this incredible city tomorrow.