ABOUT EPHESUS
Turkey - izmir - Ephesus
Numerous remains and disinterred monuments give
archaeologists reason to believe that Ephesus was
inhabited as early as the fourteenth century B.C. Strabo,
the Greek historian, asserted that the city had been
founded by the Amazons and that its population, partly
Carians and partly Lydians, worshipped the Great Goddess
Artemis to whom they dedicated an impressive temple, the
Artemision, of which only a few columns survive.
In 334 B.C. Ephesus was conquered by Alexander the Great
who initiated the reconstruction of the temple which had
been set on fire by Hierostatus on the very night that
the Macedonian champion was born. Ephesus became a great
capital of Asia Minor after 133 B.C. when it became
subject to Rome,and it also evolved as a centre for
commerce.Amongst all the Roman-dominated cities in
Anatolia, Ephesus certainly has the best preserved and
appreciated monuments but above all it is the city where
the quality of Roman life can still be breathed today,
and where one can form an impression of what life was
like at that time.
Goths from Crimea conquered the city and looted the
Temple of Artemis, then considered to be one of the
wonders of the ancient world, and the city’s decline
dates from then. It was from here that first Paul the
Apostle and then John began to spread Christianity. St
Paul, who came from Tarsus, spent three years at Ephesus
and founded the first of the seven churches mentioned in
the Book of Revelations, before being ousted by Ephesian
silversmiths. St. John lived here with the Virgin Mary
while he wrote his gospel. In 100 A.D. St John was
buried in the city and Justinian erected a basilica over
his tomb.
In 431 A.D. Theodosius II convened the Third Council at
Ephesus, during which the Nestorian heresy was condemned
and the Virgin Mary’s divine maternity affirmed. The
Library of Celsus, reconstructed by Austrian
archaeologists, is without doubt one of Ephesus’ more
important monuments. It was erected by Tiberius Julius
Aquila in memory of his father, Julius Celsus Polimeanus
(proconsul in Asia) in 135 A.D. His Sarcophagus, of fine
carved marble, is situated in the funerary chamber
underneath the library. The two-storied building has a
sumptuously decorated facade with Corinthian columns and
capitals together with niches filled with statues
representing Wisdom and Intelligence. Three doors lead
into the great reading Bedroom, which in antiquity had a
wooden roof, and where, in the centre, there stood a
statue of Athena. The marble-lined aligned walls
contained niches where the parchment scrolls were kept.
At that time the library’s collection amounted to around
twelve thousand scrolls. Hollow spaces were constructed
behind the walls (a great engineering feat) preventing
damp from damaging the scrolls.
The main road, the street of the Curetes, runs through
the centre between the Library of Celsus and the Agora.
Numerous buildings gave onto this street which was paved
in marble and stone. On each side there was a colonnaded
portico behind which galleries paved with mosaics
provided access to private dwellings, shops and
workshops. Some of the inscriptions on the columns are
clearly visible, adjacent to statues of citizens who
contributed towards the birth of the city. The street
was reconstructed after its destruction by an earthquake
during the fourth century A.D. It was called the street
of the Curetes in memory of a community of priests
called the Curetes who worshipped Artemis who every year
organised dramatic displays in honour of the goddess at
Ortigia, near Ephesus. The Odeum, or “Small Theatre” on
the slopes of Mount Panayir next to the Prytcmeion, now
the town hail, is in a good state of preservation. It
was built in 150 AD. by a rich Ephesian named Publius
Vedius Antoninus. It is semicircular and originally it
was certainly roofed over. Its capacity was around 1,500
people. Like most theatres of antiquity it had a cavea,
stage and orchestra. The podium was made of marble as
were the spectators’ benches. The audience entered
through two paradoi, one at either side, or by stairs
leading to the paradoi. The Odeum was not only used for
dramatic performances and musical concerts but it was
also the meeting place (buleuterio) for city
representatives from the BuZe. The ruins that can be
seen by the eastern side of the theatre are the
Bathrooms of Varius, probably privately owned, dating
from the second century A.D.
The current population of Turkey is over 65 million
people, of whom 60% live in the cities. Then ten most
populous cities in order are Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir
Adana, Bursa, Gaziantep, Eskisehir, Kayseri and
Diyarbakir. More than half the population is under the
age of 20.The Large Theatre is Ephesus’ most picturesque
monu-ment, its elevated position dominates the entire
valley and it could seat over 20.000 people on sixty-six
rows of steps. It was built by the Romans in the first
century A.D.on the remains of a Greek theatre during the
reign of Claudius and it was modified under Nero. Like
all theatres it had a cavea (one hundred and fifty four
metres in diameter), orchestra (thirty-four metres in
diameter), and stage (eighteen metres high). If the
Buletos met in the Odeum, this was the meeting place for
the Demos, the peoples’ assembly of male citizens. It
was in this great theatre that Ephesian silversmiths who
worshipped the Goddess Artemis revolted against St Paul
and his followers, forcing them to leave Ephesus. The
theatre’s facade was ornate: there were three rows of
columns with niches and statues and the galleried
entrances to the theatre are still visible today. Not
far from the Odeon are the remains of the monu-ment to
Memmius, commissioned by Augustus in the I century B.C.
to honour Cornelius Siila’s grandchild.
Hadrian’s Temple, in the Corinthian style, was built
along the Street of the Curetes in 138 A.D. and was
restored by Austrian archaeologists. It is one of
Ephesus’ most attractive and elegant monuments. The four
Corinthian columns in the centre support a finely
decorated pediment in the centre of which is an elegant
female bust: Tyche, the goddess who was the guardian of
the city. Above the temple door leading to the celia
there is a highly decorated tympanum with a sculpture
representing Medusa. On the facade, in front of the
columns, four statue bases have survived with the
inscriptions of the names of four emperors: Diocletian,
Maximian, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. In the cella
there is a plinth that at one time supported a statue of
Hadrian. On an architrave there is an inscription that
the temple was dedicated to the Emperor “Divo Adriano”
by P Quintilius.The Dwellings on the Slope, also called
the Slope Palaces, were luxurious houses of the rich.
They were built on the slopes of Mount Phion and they
have an unusual structure as the roof of each house
forms the terrace of the next. Almost all of them had
three storeys and they were constructed around a
peristyle (a courtyard with a columned portico), with a
central fountain. The floors were paved with mosaics and
almost all the walls frescoed with scenes from mythology.
Two of these can be seen, one next to the other, which
have been completely restored. The first house dates
from the first century A.D. as does the second which has
two peristyles and which was restored and modified up to
the seventh century. Continuing along the street of the
Curetes, behind the Bathrooms of Scholasticia, there is
a further house with an atrium, which was a Brothel.
Nothing remains of the first floor, but on the ground
floor some of the walls have retained their frescoes.
The mosaic on the floor of the dining Bedroom represents
the four seasons. The Bathrooms were equipped with hot
water and at the back there is a pool with mosaics
featuring a woman, a mouse and a slave. During
restoration work a terracotta statue of Priapus with an
enormous phallus was found and it can now be seen in
Ephesus’ museum. A few Ionian columns and a perfecdy
restored wall survive from the Church of the Virgin Mary.
This is an important church for Christians because it
was the first church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The Ecumenical Council convened by Theodosius II
proclaiming the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
in 431 A.D. was also held in this basilica. The Church
of the Virgin or the Basilica of the Council was erected
in the fourth century using the foundations of a second
century B.C. basilica structure called the Museion.
Three naves with columns and balustas were added
together with a circular baptistery with a central font.
Some of the floor slabs bear inscriptions and others are
decorated. The marble omphalon, in the centre of the
Church, was brought from the Bathrooms of the Port.
The House of the Virgin is a church on the plan of a
cross surmounted by a dome. It is almost entirely
reconstructed. It is immersed in the silent green
countryside at Panaya Kapulu, a small locality not far
from the ruins of Ephesus. In the apse there is a statue
of the Virgin (placed there a hundred years ago) and a
simple altar. There was once a kitchen in the small
central area which is paved in grey marble. Excavations
brought to light pieces of charcoal and traces of wood.
In the back Bedroom, to the south of the altar, there
was a bedBedroom. There is a fountain near the house,
the Fountain of the Virgin, and its water is said to
have miraculous powers. The house is a place of
pilgrimage for Christians, Orthodox and Catholic, and
Muslims (Meryemana is recognised as a saint by Islam).
Every year, on August 15th, believers of all three
faiths gather here to celebrate the Assumption of the
Virgin. Many exvotos adorn the House of the Virgin which
has been visited by three Popes: John XXIII, Paul VI and
John Paul II. Traditionally, the Virgin Mary was thought
to have lived in Ephesus for many years with St. John (from
37 to 48 A.D.) after the death of Jesus Christ. Some
claim that she was even buried here at the age of sixty-three,
though Christians maintain that she was buried in
Jerusalem, on Mount Sion, where there is now the Church
of Dormition. Before reaching the Selçukk Fortress, you
come to the Church of St. John, thought to be the most
important Byzantine building un Ephesus. It was built by
Justinian and Queen Theodora during the sixth century
A.D. on the ruins of a small church erected over the
Tomb of St. John who died at Ephesus in 100 A.D. At a
later stage thick walls were built around the basilica
with twenty towers and three gates to defend it from
Arab attacks.
When Ephesus was conquered by the Selçuks in 1330 it was
first transformed into a mosque and then into a bazaar.
Excavations of the basilica began in 1926 and are still
being undertaken. The entrance is through the Gate of
Persecution, surmounted by two imposing towers, which
leads into a courtyard and then into the remains of the
church. The church was forty metres wide and one hundred
and ten metres long, and constructed on the pattern of
the cross. There are three naves covered by domes
supported by brick and marble pilasters. The Saint’s
tomb is above the crypt facing the apse. The Baptistery
was octagonal and faced with marble, and the font was
embellished with arches and columns.
