Hotel Bella in Selçuk, Turkey is right down the street from The Grand Byzantine Fortress, which can be seen in this sketch. This is a view from the room of the street below. Storks had set up a nest on a pole right outside the window and I couldn’t resist sketching them as they organized the sticks on the perimeter of the nest.
The Grand Byzantine Fortress or Ayasuluk Castle, lies on a hill in the town of Selçuk, in the province of Izmir in Turkey. It is situated just a mile from the site of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus. Ephesus was initially a harbor city but the continually silting up of its harbor eventually made it an inland site situated about 3 miles from the sea at present. The fortress was built using stones from disused Greek and Roman buildings. Entry to the citadel from the south was through the Gate of Persecution, which first led into the Basilica.
Over the centuries, people from the harbor site gradually migrated towards the citadel on the hill as the harbor continued to silt up and residents battled malaria. By the end of the Byzantine period the harbor was abandoned, and Ephesus was centered around the fortress.
Inside the fortress ruins there are the remains of a small ruined mosque, a part of a former church turned into a cistern, a couple of Ottoman cisterns and ground plans of a couple of houses.
Turkey is one of the few countries that still allows American tourists to visit. Americans have become pariahs on the wold stage for their inability to control the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
Passengers arriving in Turkey will be required to complete an information form and will be checked for symptoms. Anyone suspected of having COVID-19 will be transported to a hospital for examination. If an individual on a particular aircraft/vehicle/vessel is found to have COVID-19, the information forms completed upon arrival will be used to identify others who have been in contact with them; those individuals will then also be subject to 14-day isolation/quarantine.
U.S. Citizens flying from the United States may only enter via CDC-approved airports and should follow COVID-19 restrictions in place at their final destination. Air travelers are advised to include their travel document (Passport/I-551) information in their reservations to help ensure they do not encounter issues when boarding flights. A list of approved airports along with arrival information for international travelers entering the United States is available here. U.S. citizens planning travel into and out of Turkey with stops in the European Union (EU) should check specific country restrictions on the EU website.