Selcuk Guide

SELCUK

Selçuk, the nearby city of Ephesus, lies under the ancient Fortress of Ayasuluk and is sadly often overlooked. The former agriculture village has interesting sights of its own to offer—St. John the Evangelist is said to have been buried here, just below the ancient fortress, and the city has one of the earliest mosques in western Turkey, the lovely İsa Bey Camii. On her stay over half a century ago, the renowned explorer Freya Stark rhapsodized over the historical treasures of the small city of Selçuk: "All are tightly clustered together," Stark wrote in her book Ionia: A Quest, "as the landscape in a medieval book of hours. And that is indeed what it is though the hours are centuries and the book was written on the changes of earth." Selçuk is easy to operate on foot (keep an eye out for small gems of Seljuk and Ottoman building scattered across town), and there are many great casual restaurants along the central square and along side streets where you can eat outside. Rather pricey stores selling rugs and jewelry cater to souvenir seekers. The town treats an annual camel wrestling festival every third weekend in January.