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Selcuk Ephesus Turkey

Selcuk is a touristic town in the southern part of Izmir. It is 70 km away from Izmir and 8 km away from the Aegean Coast. It has extraordinary historical sites and, also, natural beauties. It is surrounded by forests in the south and by orchards in the east, by the sea in the west and fields in the north. The lake called Birds' Paradise is in the south east. The town's people's consciousness of living together with archeological sites, ruins and natural beauties is at its peak in the town. Most of the hotels in and around the town are well adopted to their surrounding and very well equipped with modern comfort to satisfy all the needs of the visitors. The touristic facilities on the coast cover only a small part of the whole coast and the big part of it is still untouched and stays with its original beauty. The town is an important center of the world in terms of archeology, religion, history and culture while in the antiquity, it was famous with Ephesus which was one of the largest cities of Asia at its time and Temple of Artemis which was one of the seven wonders of ancient times. Ephesus became one of the most important centers during the early Christian era With St. John, St. Paul, St. Lucas and Ecumenical Council which was held in Ephesus in 431 AD. This is why it was announced as a place for pilgrimage for Christians by The Pope. Known existence of synagogues in the region, which haven't been excavated, yet, proves this place's importance for the supporters of Jewish Religion, also. Early Turkish, Islamic-Ottoman period constructions and a lot of Selcukian art workscreated during 12 th Century AD are very important cultural remains which worth seeing.

AQUEDUCTS
Another important ruins remained from Byzantine are in Selcuk are the aqueducts. You can see the ruins of the Byzantin aqueduct in the town extending from the eastern hills to the Ayasuluk Hill passing by the current train station and on both sides of the railway. These restored aqueducts’ peak parts serve for storks which are a symbol of the town to set  their nests on The other aqueduct which was built at the time of Emperor Augustus is known as the aqueduct of Gaius Sextilliw Pollio and it is on the 6th km of Selcuk-Aydin Highway.

STORKS
As it is believed by all the people, storks bring prosperity and health for that season to those who see them in the air first time. The storks in Selcuk make their nests on the peaks of the ruins of the aqueducts. They live with the town in harmony and they are a complementary of the town scenery. They are the messengers of the beginning and end of summer. They come generally by April and leave by the end of September and in the meantime they have their babies here. We particularly encourage you not to miss the opportunity to walk among the storks, watching the charm of new borns and listening to the calls made by clapping their beaks while they play with each other.

Map of Selcuk