click to enlarge and read the story behind Mary's house
As you know by now, most ruins, sites, and museums charge around 10 YTL (or, as I call them yurtles), or, $8 USD for admission, and sometimes an additional $8 USD or $2 or $4, for a special extra admission (like the incredible dwelling excavations at Ephesus). And likewise, the admission to visit the Virgin Mary’s last purported domicile, outside of the town of Selcuk was a stiff ten yurtles.
The place was packed with Catholic faithful (the Pope also visited recently), kneeling and making the sign of the cross. It was a small stone house, and entirely unremarkable. The evidence, as you will see from the informational sign, was shaky at best. After four minutes, you’ve seen everything there is to see.
Mareymane is where St. John the Evangelist brought Mary to care for her. On the cross, Jesus requested his favorite disciple to care for her. It was in this part of Asia Minor that John was charged with establishing churches and spreading the gospel of his friend and savior.
According to legend, after Jesus was assassinated, John never left Mary, and took care of her until her dying days, as he wrote his letters, his Revelations, and his Gospel.
A highlight of the visit to Mary’s was filling our bottles with real spring water at a source. It was the first time we’ve drunk much tap water since arriving in Turkey. It was also the first museum-ruin-site where I felt like we had been fleeced!
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