We have seen reviews that are up and down, but we were really affected by our visit. This is…read morebelieved to be / could be the final house of the Virgin Mary. The house was destroyed except for the bottom two rows of bricks. It has been reconstructed and is now a shrine. There are 4 springs with "holy water" and a prayer wall. We found it very impactful to possibly be walking where the Virgin Mary and St John the Apostle walked.

Mary shrine. This is pit stop for our trip. This a last home place of Mary. It is a holy place that…read morefor worship due to last Mary Home. The place is very small. Our tour guide warn us about it. Sometimes take two hours to visit this small house. We were visited during the lunch time which is the less tour group here. It takes us 30 minutes.

For a country which is mostly Muslim it's always amazing to see churches in Turkey which have…read moresurvived from a time when Turkey was predominantly Christian. The Ayios Haralambos Church was built in 1832 as a Greek Orthodox Church in Cesme before the Greeks fled Izmir. It was restored by the city in 2012 and opened as a cultural center. For the past few years I've visited in the summer there is always a pop up art gallery where local artists come to display their art. I've bought art from these galleries the past two years I have visited. If you're in the area I would definitely recommend visiting, it's on the main shopping strip in Cesme and it's free to enter! Not only will there likely be an art exhibition, but the mosaics that are on the ceiling are absolutely stunning.

Neat ruin site. Admission covered by museum Turkey pass. Not a ton of interpretive content on…read moresite so read background before visiting. Parking near site available. Not a destination but a nice stop if in Ephesus.

Another great place! So cool to visit where John, the beloved, was laid to rest. It's known he…read morereturned to Ephesus, after being exiled on Patmos, and that was where he passed away. So this is where his tomb is and in the 6th century, this large basilica was built over his tomb. However, earthquakes and the encroachment of the Turks resulted in the church being abandoned and relics lost. The original design of the church was laid out like a cross. Most of it is gone today, but you can still kind of see how it was set up. They have a replica of the grounds for Ephesus and the basilica so you can have an idea of what things looked like and how far apart they were. The renderings of the buildings are pretty cool. Such amazing history here!

Beş yildiz. Why? Because THIS is the symbol of Izmir. A…read morecity that I fell in love with back in 2007. It's located in the municipality of Konak. Pretty much all the financial areas and government buildings are in that area. The clock is super old. Like 1901 old. If you're in the 35 (Izmir's regional code) you should take a look.