Ephesus

A major port on the west coast of Asia Minor (Turkey), originally an Ionic city of which only a few fragments survive. The city walls are Hellenistic, but the majority of the remains date from the Roman period, when the city was one of the richest and most important in Asia. The temple of Artemis and many important public buildings have been found, including agoras, baths, Library of Celus, arcaded streets, market buildings, gymnasia, stadium, and a theater. The temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was burned in 356 BC. The town was situated strategically in the delta area of the River Cayster, and there is some evidence for occupation from Mycenaean times. Tradition, however, describes the settlement as founded from Athens by King Androklos.

Situated in the Aegean region of Turkey, Ephesus is probably the best preserved ancient city in the Mediterranean. In ancient times, Ephesus was a bustling trading city and a center of worship of Cybele - the goddess of fertility. Archaeological excavations and maintenance works provide new information about the ancient city every year. Therefore, this is a place worth coming back again and again.

Ephesus is also an important place for Christians. Here was one of the first Christian communities in Asia Minor, and Saint John held the position of Bishop of Ephesus. He mentioned Ephesus in the Book of Revelation, where the city was listed as one of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.

In order to imagine what life was like in the ancient city of Roman Empire, walk the streets of Ephesus, look at public toilets and residential houses, then sit back in the theater or visit the library. Ephesus offers all these things, and indeed no one will not be disappointed after the visit.

One of the richest and most splendid cities of the classical world, on the west coast of Turkey, famous in antiquity for its colossal temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the World). The town was situated strategically in the delta area of the River Cayster, and there is some evidence for occupation from Mycenaean times. Tradition, however, describes the settlement as founded from Athens by King Androklos. It is likely that Ephesus soon took on the uneasy balancing role — familiar to the major cities and ports along this seaboard — between influences from mainland Greece and pressures from the hinterland of Asia Minor, notably in this case from Lydia and Persia. Artemis herself, for instance (Diana to the Romans), may be seen as a Greek equivalent for the Anatolian goddess, Cybele. Supreme prosperity, however, only arrived once general conditions in the eastern end of the Mediterranean had stabilized under the Hellenistic kings and Roman rule. Apart from the great temple, this later Greco-Roman city boasted a generalized magnificence, as, for instance, in the grand scale of its agoras, baths, theatre (the setting for Paul’s address, Acts of the Apostles XIX), the Library of Celsus, the Gymnasium of Vedius, and the arcaded streets, notably the Arkadiane (whose visible remains date from the period of the Emperor Arcadius AD 395 onwards), running more than 500 metres from the theatre to the harbour, and equipped with a central vehicular lane, mosaic pavements, shops, and even street-lighting.