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Ephesus (Hittite: Apasa. Turkish: Efes) was an Ionian city in ancient Anatolia. The city was located in Ionia, where the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes) flows into the Aegean Sea. It was part of the Panionian League.

About Ephesus

Today’s archaeological site lies 3 kilometers south of the Selçuk district of İzmir Province, Turkey. The ruins of Ephesus are a favorite international and local tourist attraction, partly owing to their easy accessibility from Adnan Menderes Airport and via the port of Kuşadası.

Ephesus hosted one of the seven churches of Asia, addressed in the Book of Revelation of The Bible (2:1-7), and the Gospel of John might have been written here. It is also the site of a large gladiator graveyard.

The house of the Virgin Mary (Turkish: Meryem Ana, meaning “Mother Mary”), about 7 kilometers from Selçuk, is believed to have been the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus. It is a popular place of pilgrimage which has been visited by three recent popes.

The site is large. In fact, Ephesus contains the largest collection of Roman ruins East of the Mediterranean. Only an estimated 15% has been excavated. The ruins that are visible give some idea of the city’s original splendour, and the names associated with the ruins are evocative of its former life. The theater dominates the view down Harbour Street which leads to the long silted-up harbor.

The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is represented only by one inconspicuous column, revealed during an archaeological excavation by the British Museum in the 1870s. Some fragments of the frieze (which are insufficient to suggest the form of the original) and other small finds were removed – some to London and some to the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul.

Ephesus is believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers. The story of the Seven Sleepers, who are considered saints by Christians and Muslims, tells that they were persecuted because of their belief in God and that they slept in a cave near Ephesus for centuries.