EPHESUS

The site; 

For the visitor today, there are two entrances to the site, one upper and one lower. As it is slightly downhill, it is a better idea to start from the upper gate. There are no shopping facilities nor toilets inside the site and that is why in summer months it is strongly recommended that the visitor bring drinking water and wear comfortable shoes as well as a hat.

At the eastern end of the city, it is possible to see the remains of the Magnesian Gate before coming to today’s entrance. This gate was the point of departure of roads which connected Ephesus with Magnesia and Miletus. After entering the site from the upper gate, at the far right end there is the Bath of Varius, a 2C AD Roman bath complex.

*The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was in Ephesus.

*There are visible ruins of a library dedicated to Celsus Polemeanus which housed between 12,000-15,000 scrolls.

*Ephesus was a coastal city with a population of 1/4 million. Ephesus became the second largest city of the Roman Empire.

*Ephesus was founded between 1500-1000 B.C.

*Ephesus was destroyed by an earthquke

*A great city for pagans and Christians, Ephesus contained the normal trappings of Roman and Greek cities, including a theater, odeon, state agora, public toilets, and monuments to the emperors.

*Ephesus was an important enough city for early Christianity, that the third ecumenical council was held there in A.D.