Most people have heard of Ephesus. Ephesus (or in Turkish: Efes) was an Ionian Greek city in ancient Anatolia, founded by colonists from Athens in the 10th century BC.
The city was located in the area of Ionia, where the Cayster River flows into the Aegean Sea, and was part of the Panionian League. Today’s archaeological site lies 3 km south of the Selçuk district of Izmir Province, in southwest Turkey. The ruins of Ephesus are favorite international and local tourist attractions. Ephesus hosted one of the seven churches of Asia, addressed in the Book of Revelation, and was also the city which Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. It is also the site of a large Gladiator graveyard.
Unlike most of the other ruins that we saw during our trip from Istanbul to Ankara, Ephesus covered a very large area of land and was surprisingly well preserved. Most scholars believe that Ephesus was originally founded during the Bronze Age in the 10th century BC. The original city of Ephesus completely flooded and as a result was destroyed. The city was rebuilt by Lysimachus, who destroyed the cities of Lebedos and Colophon in 292 BC and relocated their inhabitants to the new city.
The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. The many-breasted “Lady of Ephesus”, identified with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest building of the ancient world according to Pausanias. As you can see, of this structure, scarcely a trace remains. The large statue that was once erected of the Goddess Artemis is in an Austrian museum in Vienna, because the original excavators of the city were Austrian. In addition to the statue in Vienna, there are two more statues of Artemis in the cities of Selҫuk and Ephesus, as these statues are the iconic images of the city.
There are four major reasons why the ruins are in such poor shape. The first reason is that the Sultans did not care enough about the ancient cities. During the 1800’s one of the major problems in Turkey was the exporting of Turkish historical artifacts to Germany and Austria, and unfortunately this happened at Ephesus as well. Also, because Ephesus is located so close to the present day cities of Izmir and Selҫuk, the ruins were mined fairly heavily for marble, which also sped up the deterioration of the structures, such as the Temple of Artemis. A third reason why the Temple of Artemis no longer exists is because of the Christianization of the area. Because Ephesus was a Pagan city, when the Christians came through to Christianize the area, they destroyed the Pagan temples. Because these things were not Christian there was no need for them anymore in the city. Finally, three different major earthquakes occurred while Ephesus was still a thriving city, which led to the volatility in the area. The citizens of Ephesus had to continually rebuild their city, and did not always rebuild every part of the city structures.
The ruins were fairly interesting at this site. During the high times of Ephesus, the city was distinguished for the Library of Celsus, and for its theatre, capable of holding 25,000 spectators. This open-air theatre was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage, with the first archaeological evidence of a gladiator graveyard. Additionally, the ruins of Ephesus are known for the upper-class city dwellings within the city and for the Roman baths inside the city limits.
At the time, the Library of Celsus was the second largest library in the world. It was built for Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus and completed in AD 135. Celsus’ son built the library in honor of his father, who was a consul, governor, and wealthy and popular citizen of Ephesus. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus. At the time, it was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits.
The most interesting ruin within Ephesus was the theatre. Capable of seating over 25,000 spectators, this theatre was one of the largest theatres we saw during our trip. Because Ephesus was such a large city, they were continually adding onto the theatre. By the 200’s AD, the theatre had three tiers; however the present day theatre only has two tiers. Because Ephesus is located near a fault line, several earthquakes devastated the city and made the citizens rebuild the theatre along with the city. By the third great earthquake, around 359-408 AD., the last Roman reconstruction took place. However this time, they only rebuilt the lower two tiers of the stadium and let the other tiers deteriorate more. After being excavated in the late 1800’s by a team of Austrians, the theatre was in fairly good shape. When the city was opened up to the 
public and to tourists, one of the major attractions was the theatre. In fact, the theatre attracted several bands in the 1980s who wanted to put a show on in it. The Turkish government allowed several artists to perform in the ancient theatre in Ephesus. As you can see from the photo on the right, the theatre would make a great place for a smaller concert venue. Elton John, Sting, and Guns ‘N Roses were three of the more prominent acts to play the venue. However, after Guns ‘N Roses played a plugged session, the Turkish government saw that it was not healthy for the ruins to host an event such as a concert and did not allow any other bands to play the theatre.
Another aspect unique to Ephesus are the well preserved ruins of housing units within the city center. These ruins are of upper-class housing units, which are like current day condominiums. These housing units were smaller than present day condominiums, and yet were just as, if not more grandiose than their current day counterparts. On each floor there was either a fresco or a mural, and each house had its own bath and large foyer area. It was easy to tell that the rich lived in these settlements. To the right is one of the many murals that were in these housing units. The people in these houses lived very extravagant lifestyles. They had large reception rooms to entertain guests, and tried to show off their wealth as best as they could. These housing units reminded me of high-rise condominiums or like ancient homes in the Hampton’s. These people were the traders and merchants of the city, and as a result were very wealthy.
My favorite part of Ephesus was the Roman bath or “hamam” area. These ruins still had the marble toilets intact. 
The story behind these toilets is very interesting. According to many tales, this bath was only for the very rich and wealthy men of Ephesus. Because marble gets fairly cold in the winter, the rich people would go make their servants sit on the toilet before them in order to get it warmed up. Even though it was nearly 100 degrees outside, Lucas and I had to try to warm up the toilets for our rich masters, as you can see in the picture to the right. I found it very interesting, and somewhat disturbing, that the toilets were so close to one another. It is hard for me to imagine having grand conversations with the other wealthy men in that bathroom. I can only imagine how the area smelt on a warm summer day. The poor peasants who had to clean up the hamam had, by far, the worst job I can possibly think of.
Ephesus was a unique and interesting ruin to visit. It is an absolute must to anyone who is traveling to Turkey, as the historical background to Ephesus is one that we all know. The ruins in Ephesus are like no other ancient city. Ephesus was, by far, the best stop on our tour from Istanbul to Ankara.
