Ancient City of Ephesus

With origins going back to around 6000 BC, the ancient city of Ephesus (Efes) belonged at different times to the Romans, the Greeks and the Turks. Home to monuments such as the Temple of Artemis, the House of the Virgin Mary and the Cave of the Seven Sleepers (Ashab-ı Kehf), this extraordinary site lies in the Selçuk district of İzmir and is one of Türkiye’s most important tourist attractions. Ephesus enjoyed its most brilliant times in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Under the Roman emperor Augustus it was the capital of the Province of Asia, with a population of 200,000.

Acting as a gateway between East and West, Ephesus was also an important port city, which made it a major commercial and political centre in its day. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015.

Ephesus also contains the largest temple of the cult of Artemis, rooted in Anatolia’s ancient tradition of the mother goddess. A place of great importance in history and today, Ephesus produced famous figures such as Heraclitus, Artemidorus, Hipponax, Zenodotus and Soranus.

Where Is the Ancient City of Ephesus?

Ephesus lies

. It is one of the first tourist centres that come to mind when people think of the Aegean. It has come down to us from the ancient Greeks. Before it passed to the Turks, it was ruled by the Roman Empire. Every year Ephesus draws crowds of Turkish and foreign visitors. Each of the historic buildings in the city is precious not only to us but to the world’s heritage.

Who Founded Ephesus, and When?

It is thought to have been founded by women warriors of that time, known as the

. Ephesus is thought to

. It is one of the most important examples from the Neolithic period, a rare masterpiece that has survived to the present day.

What Was Life Like in Ephesus?

In the

Ephesus was home to migrants, because it was a port city then. Migrants arriving by sea at what is now the İzmir area reached Ephesus first. As trade flourished, most of them stayed in Ephesus and made their living there. Most of the ruins of Ephesus that survive today date from the time of

, an army commander who served under Alexander the Great.

The Architecture of Ephesus

One of the most striking features of Ephesus is that all its avenues and streets cross at right angles. This layout was devised by

and is called the

. One of the most advanced cities in the world in its day, Ephesus was built and adorned with marble works that called for advanced technology and great skill by the standards of the time. For a period it was also the capital of the Province of Asia. Its population then is estimated at around two hundred thousand, an incredible number for the time.

After a while, however, Ephesus suffered a great misfortune. The harbour of Ephesus, the main source of the city’s wealth, began to silt up and lost its use as a port, and trade declined. Wanting to prevent the crisis, the emperor Hadrian had the silted harbour cleared several times, but he could not stop the decline. Ephesus lost its harbour and became a city far from the sea. Later, in 1330, Ephesus passed to the Turks.

The Inscription That Tells How Ephesus Was Founded

At

in Ephesus there is an inscription telling the legend of the city’s founding. It reads:

“Androclus, the brave son of Codrus, king of Athens, wants to explore the far shore of the Aegean. First he consults the oracles of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. They tell him he will found a city where a fish and a boar show him. Pondering these words, Androclus sets sail on the deep blue waters of the Aegean… When they reach the gulf at the mouth of the Cayster (Küçük Menderes) river, they decide to land. As they light a fire and cook the fish they have caught, a wild boar bursts out of the bushes, snatches a fish and runs off. The prophecy has come true. They decide to found a city here…”

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