3 Best Sights in The Central and Southern Aegean Coast, Turkey

The ruin of Ephesus, once the most important Greco-Roman city of the eastern Mediterranean, is one of the best preserved ancient sites in the world. Today, modern travelers can trace the splendor and collapse of ancient civilizations in Ephesus's spectacular landscape of ruined temples, theaters, and colonnaded streets. There are two entrances to the site, which is on a hill: one at the top of the site (Üst Kapı, or Upper Gate) and one at the bottom (Alt Kapı, or Lower Gate—this is where to find the public dolmuş stop). The main avenue is about a mile long but there are a number of intriguing detours, so a minimum visit of two hours can easily stretch to four. Buy water and a light snack in Selçuk town before you head for Ephesus. In summer, when shade is at a premium, a hat is a very good idea. Highlights of the site include the spectacular theater, backed by the western slope of Mt. Pion, which once seated an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 spectators; the beautiful two-story Library of Celsus; and the terrace houses, the multi-storied houses of the nobility, with terraces and courtyards (which have a separate entrance fee).

The sprawling, well-maintained site of Hierapolis is lovely proof of how long the magical springs of Pamukkale have drawn eager travelers and pilgrims to partake of the waters' supposed healing powers. The ruins that can be seen today date from the time of the Roman Empire, but there are references to a settlement here as far back as the 5th century BC. Because the ruins are spread over nearly 3 km (2 miles), prepare for some walking—or hop on the mini-van shuttle, which runs between the North Gate and the Sacred Pool every 30 minutes. The main points of interest are well marked along the path and include a vast and beautiful necropolis (cemetery) with more than 1,000 cut-stone sarcophagi spilling all the way down to the base of the hill; the ruins of a Temple of Apollo and a bulky Byzantine church; a monumental fountain known as the Nymphaeum, just north of the Apollo Temple; and the Ploutonion, built over a cave that leaks poisonous fumes from the bowels of the earth, so deadly that the Romans revered and feared it as a portal to the Underworld. Below the theater, near the Sacred Pool, the stone building that enclosed Hierapolis's public baths is now The Hierapolis (Pamukkale) Archaeological Museum (Müzesi) with a fine display of impressive carved sarcophagi and marble reliefs, statues, and funerary stelae found at the site.

Claiming to be the world's largest olive oil museum, this museum 22 km (14 miles) east of Urla presents several concepts under its very large roof, and its full five acres. The vision of this private museum, founded by Dr. Levent Köstem and his wife, is about olives and olive oil culture, paying homage to 3,000 years of olive cultivation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Food and natural products, local olives, olive oil, wines from the Köstem organic olive farm, and neighboring villages and vineyards are available to taste and buy at the Köstem Shop and Café.