Last Home of the Virgin Mary

Even though it is widely debated, it is widely believed that after Mary was brought to Ephesus by Apostle John, her last residence was on Nightingale Mountain (About 4 miles up the mountain from the Ephesus archaeological site). It was close enough to the big city, yet remote enough so that she could maintain a low profile and be incognito. It is believed that she lived here until she died from natural causes at the age of 64.

The house is an official pilgrimage site of the catholic church. 

The house itself is extremely small. There is only a very small entrance room, a slightly larger main room, and an exit way the size of the entrance. She must have lived very humbly. The site also has a spring which is hooked up somehow to a fountain. I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to take any water but I emptied out my water bottle and filled up. Its believed that the water can cure illnesses and procure miracles -- Idk about my water now though. The act of stealing it might have negated all of its healing properties. Whatevs. 

Oh and by the way, no pictures were allowed inside the sanctuary but you know me. Of course your girl procured a few photos. Gotta have documentation, nah mean? 

Sorry Mary. 

Entry Way

Inside Main Room

Old Wall Fresco

(Not sure how old it is)

View After Exiting

After you exit the home, there's a place where you can light a candle and say a prayer and that I did. Surprisingly, there was only me and 2 other people in sanctuary at the time. You would think there would be crowds of people but it was the exact opposite. Very quiet, very serene. It was just as you would expect for the former home of the Virgin. Now that I'm thinking about it, I would describe it as a beautiful experience. 

Cave of Seven Sleepers

Following my tour of Ephesus, I took a little detour to a less frequented site in Selcuk. Its called the Cave of the Seven Sleepers. As I mentioned before, Selcuk is home to a lot of early Christian historical sites and stories. This one is quite interesting, so I thought I would travel off the beaten path and check it out. 

After I exited through upper Ephesus, I walked down a long road for about 20-25 minutes. From there, I banged left on this gravel road and walked for another 20 minutes or so. While walking, there was literally no one or any cars on the road. Just me -- Quite eerie. I've seen too many horror movies to be doing shit like that, but I was determined. So I walk down this second road and I come to a few small houses with old Turkish women sitting around drinking tea. And right outside the houses, there was a sign for the cave.  I walked up a steep hill for about a minute and bam, there it was. 

AND IT GOES A LITTLE SOMETHING LIKE THIS...  

During the 3rd century AD, the epic beef between the Roman State and the early Christians was still raging. This was, of course, because the Christians refused to worship and make sacrifices to the Roman gods and goddesses. When the Emperor Decius was due to come to Ephesus, seven young Christian men escaped the city to avoid persecution for defying the Roman State. They hid in a cave up in the mountains where they fell asleep. When the Roman soldiers found their hide out, the emperor ordered the cave sealed.

Two centuries later an earth quake broke down the wall and miraculously woke up the men who then re entered the city to find food. They returned to Ephesus to find that Christianity was now the accepted and official religion of the Roman Empire. The Emperor Theodosius was informed of this miracle and recognized it as proof of the doctrine of Resurrection -- which at the time was a major issue within the Church. 

When the young men eventually died, they were buried in the cave and a church was built over the resting place. 

I couldn't walk into the caves because it was fenced off but I snapped some pictures through the fence.

Nobody was up there but me, either. Kind of an uncanny feeling. 

Shit you don't hear about let alone see everyday, man.