The ancient city of Ephesus was first founded 8000 years ago. There is evidence that the region was inhabited since the Early Bronze Age. Ephesus was a vibrant city at the heart of Greco-Roman civilization. At its peak, it was home to over 250,000 inhabitants and to the ancient world's largest temple, four times larger than Athen's Parthenon: the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. During the time of Christ, Ephesus was the capitol of Asia Minor, a wealthy, sophisticated cultural hub. One website described it as the cultural equivalent of Paris at that time. It is also a city of biblical importance: The Apostle Paul was said to have preached at the Temple of Artemis, Saint John is buried here, and the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived out her days in the outskirts of the town.
Over its history, settlements of the city of Ephesus moved several times. Under the Ottoman rule, the living city was renamed Ayasuluk. In 1914, after the War of Turkish Independence, its name was changed to Selçuk, the living descendent of the once great city of Ephesus, today a small tourist stop for visitors en route to the archeological sites. The ruins of ancient Ephesus, located several kilometers from Selçuk, date from around 300 BC, originating from a settlement begun by Lysimachos, a general of Alexander the Great.
While open to tourists, Ephesus is also an active archeological site where new discoveries are constantly made. Although over 80% of Ephesus remains to be unearthed, the ruins are already considered to be one of the ancient Western world's most complete classical metropolises.
It's just wild to walk down the stone streets of ancient Ephesus, wondering what stories those stones statues might have to tell of the generations they've seen walk through their archways. To pass through the entry to the Library of Celsus, admiring the double wall design made to protect against humidity and temperature, and pondering what knowledge those walls once contained. To sit in the theater made for 25,000 spectators and imagine it full of men draped in togas. Even to peer into the latrines and remember that the near-mythical men of antiquity were still quite human, albeit with a very different sense of privacy and personal space. As Dr. Magness, an archeologist at UNC-Chapel Hill, describes, Ephesus "is almost like a snapshot in time. You get the sense of what walking down the street of a Roman city was like without having to use your own imagination."
Over its history, settlements of the city of Ephesus moved several times. Under the Ottoman rule, the living city was renamed Ayasuluk. In 1914, after the War of Turkish Independence, its name was changed to Selçuk, the living descendent of the once great city of Ephesus, today a small tourist stop for visitors en route to the archeological sites. The ruins of ancient Ephesus, located several kilometers from Selçuk, date from around 300 BC, originating from a settlement begun by Lysimachos, a general of Alexander the Great.
While open to tourists, Ephesus is also an active archeological site where new discoveries are constantly made. Although over 80% of Ephesus remains to be unearthed, the ruins are already considered to be one of the ancient Western world's most complete classical metropolises.
It's just wild to walk down the stone streets of ancient Ephesus, wondering what stories those stones statues might have to tell of the generations they've seen walk through their archways. To pass through the entry to the Library of Celsus, admiring the double wall design made to protect against humidity and temperature, and pondering what knowledge those walls once contained. To sit in the theater made for 25,000 spectators and imagine it full of men draped in togas. Even to peer into the latrines and remember that the near-mythical men of antiquity were still quite human, albeit with a very different sense of privacy and personal space. As Dr. Magness, an archeologist at UNC-Chapel Hill, describes, Ephesus "is almost like a snapshot in time. You get the sense of what walking down the street of a Roman city was like without having to use your own imagination."
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