Ephesus is one of the most famous ancient cities thanks to the fact that it has been preserved in a very good condition to this day, while excavations have been going on for over a hundred years. The ancient remains that have been found in the city date mainly from around the Roman years, when Ephesus was the second most important city in the Roman Empire, after Rome. It had developed into a commercial center attracting merchants from neighboring countries. Its port connected the eastern regions with the Mediterranean Sea and was the starting point of the Royal Road to Susa.

The myth relating to the founding of Ephesus derives from advice given by the Oracle of Delphi, as it was customary for the ancient Greeks to ask the Oracle for advice before founding a new city. Thus, Androclus, son of Codro, king of Athens, consulted the Oracle for the position of his settlement, which would be indicated to him by a fish and a boar. So Androclus and his settlers traveled east to find this place. When they reached Anatolia, they camped near Ephesus and were grilling fish when a fish burned and set fire to a bush from which a wild boar came out. The boar jumped out of the bush when the fire started and ran away. Androclus remembered the Oracle and concluded that his city had been pointed out to him by this accidental event.

According to other historical sources, it was the Amazons who founded Ephesus, while others claim that Ephesus was a city called Apasas by the Hittites in 1400 BC. During the first years of its foundation, Ephesus was situated on Ayasuluk Hill, but later its citizens had to move to the northern slope of Pion Mountain. In the sixth century BC, it was ruled by Cresus from Lydia and in 546 BC, the Persians took control of the city. In the Persian Wars, Ephesus joined the League of Delos and Alexander the Great conquered it in 334 BC. However, the Ephesians were forced to move once again because of the silting up of the harbor which made the area unhealthy for the citizens. Consequently, they found a new location between the Pion and Coressus mountains.
Pergamon had ruled the city for some years before the Romans conquered it in 133 BC. Ephesus became the capital of Asia Minor thanks to the Roman occupation and had a very large population. After the 6th century AD, the division of the port threatened the citizens who moved to Ayasuluk Hill.

The archaeological site of Ephesus / Turkey
The site can be entered from two sides. Visitors are usually advised to start from the upper gate (to the east), because this is a descent on foot. In the past, the Gate of Magnesia allowed access to Ephesus from the east and was named after Magnesia, the city that stood at the gate. It consisted of three openings. The sides were used by pedestrians and the middle opening was used by horses and chariots. A second gate, to the interior, prevented invaders from accessing the city, trapping them in the courtyard between two gates, where the Ephesians could attack them.
After entering the site through the upper gate, you can see the Baths of Varius on the right, which date back to the second century AD. They were made of marble and consisted of three parts: the frigidarium (with cold water), the tepidarium (with hot water) and the caldarium (with hot water). The living and rest rooms were built in the 2nd century and a mosaic corridor was introduced in the 5th century AD.
Next to the baths is an amphitheater building known as the Odeon. Built in the 2nd century AD, it was used for political meetings and for this reason is also known as the Boulefterion. It has two entrances to the upper audience seats and another two at the bottom. In the past, it also had a wooden roof.

In front of the Odeon, there is a large square that used to house the State Agora. It was surrounded by four porticoes and was often used as a political center for government discussions. The northern basilica of the Odeon consisted of three Naves and was a center for commercial business.
To the right of the Odeon, the Temple of Dea Roma and Julius Divinus were built by Augustus in the first century AD in honor of his father Julius Caesar.

Still, there was the PRITÂNEON, but only the remains of what can be seen today. The PRITÂNEON was an administrative building housing the offices of the city authorities. Among them were a meeting room, administrative offices, rooms for the city archives and a cafeteria for foreign visitors. The sacred flame of Hestia burned in the middle of the PRITÂNEON courtyard. The street in front of the PRITÂNEON was named after the priests as Curetas Street.
In front of the PRITÂNEON and to the left of the Agora of the State, there is a temple that had been dedicated to the Emperor Domitian. It is important to mention at this point that the Ephesians erected a large number of temples to honor the Roman emperors in order to ensure good relations with them.

In front of the Temple of Domitian, there was the Fountain of Polio, which was supplied with water from the River Cayster. The fountain was built in the first century AD by the wealthy family of Offilius Proculo to honor Sextillius. It had an arched façade with sculptures. Today, these sculptures are on display in the museum of Ephesus.
A few meters further on, next to Curetas Street and to the right of the PRITÂNEON, there is a small marble structure called the Memmius Monument. It was built in the 2nd century and was dedicated to Memmius, who was the son of Gaius and grandson of Sulla. It had four façades, with sculptures representing Sulla’s father and grandfather. It was converted into a fountain in the 4th century AD.
Walking along Curetas Street to the north, there is another fountain dedicated to Emperor Trajan. It was built in the 2nd century AD, and was decorated with statues of Aphrodite, Dionysus, Satyr and figures of members of the emperor’s family. Trajan’s Fountain consisted of a pool in which a colossal statue of him had been placed. Today, visitors can only see the statue’s feet.

Moving on to Trajan’s Fountain, there is a complex made up of the Scholastica Baths, the latrines and the brothel, built in the 2nd century AD. To begin with, the Scholastica Baths were named after a wealthy Christian woman who paid for their restoration in the 5th century AD. They consisted of three levels, but two of them collapsed. The upper level consisted of a hall with central heating. The ground level housed three sections (hot, warm or cold water). There were also some private rooms where people could accommodate themselves. Secondly, the latrines were public toilets that were built along a wall. There was running water below the toilets and a pool in the square space, which housed the latrines
Thirdly, the brothel was located on the corner where Marble Street crossed Curetas Street and had two entrances, one for each of these streets. It consisted of two floors, a reception area with mosaics, a room and a bath on the first floor. The upper floor housed the rooms which were lit with candles. It was important to observe the rules of cleanliness when entering the brothel, so visitors had to wash their hands and feet. Cleaning facilities were offered to visitors and statues depicting Aphrodite adorned the brothel’s rooms. During excavations in this area, a statue of Priapus with a large phallus was found. This figure is currently on display in the Ephesus Museum.

Opposite the Baths of St. Scholastica, on Calle Curetas, there is a well-preserved building known as the Temple of Hadrian. It was built at the beginning of the 2nd century AD and Theodosius rebuilt it two centuries later. The temple’s façade is made up of four columns of the Corinthian order, which support a triangular pediment with an arch in the middle of it. There are bases in front of the columns where the Ephesians placed statues of Roman emperors accompanied by inscriptions.
In front of the Temple of Hadrian, on the other side of Curetas Street, there are some houses built on the slope of Koressos Mountain. Most of them are still being excavated and have not yet been opened to the public. The houses on the slopes were inhabited by wealthy families from Ephesus. They were built on terraces and the roofs had a Roman style. They consisted of two floors with a living and dining room on the first floor and a bedroom above. The houses were made of clay and heated by pipes placed inside the wall or under the floor. The hot water flowed through the pipes to heat the rooms. As there were no windows, the houses were lit through an open corridor.

The end of Curetas Street led to the Hercules Gate, on the corner with Marble Street. Two reliefs depicting Hercules wearing a lion’s skin adorned the gate. It was narrow on purpose, to prevent wheeled vehicles from entering the city from the Magnesia Gate.
The most imposing attraction in Ephesus can be considered the Library of Celsus. Impassive and imposing, at the end of Curetas Street, behind the Gate of Hercules, it can be seen from the top of the sloping ground of Curetas Street, outside the PRITANION. The Library of Celsus was built in the 2nd century AD by Gaius Julius Aquila in honor of his father Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaenus who was the Governor General of the Province of Asia. Even though the bodies of the dead were buried outside the borders of cities during the Roman Perion, Aquila was granted permission to have his father buried in a marble tomb that was placed in an underground chamber beneath the Library of Celsus. What has survived today of the monumental Library is a large façade adorned with columns and statues symbolizing wisdom, knowledge, intelligence and fortune.
To the left of the Library, there is a colossal gate that allowed access to the Commercial Agora and the Marble Street. It is known as the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates, in honor of the two slaves who built it after Augustus gave them their freedom.

The commercial Agora, also known as the Market Square, was the commercial center of the city. It had three large gates; one on the north side, one on the south side (Gate of Gazeus and Mithridates) and one on the west side. The eastern side of the Agora consisted of a two-storey portico of the Doric order and a series of stores along it.
Marble Street is a wide street between the Library of Celsus and the Great Theater. Originally, it was part of the procession road to the Temple of Artemis, which passed through the Gate of Magnesia. On the sidewalk on the west side of the street, there is a drawing depicting a heart, a woman and a left foot. This was actually an advertisement addressing sailors arriving in the city via the harbor street. The message was that they could make love to a woman if they walked down the street until they found the brothel that was located on the left!

The city’s Grand Theater can be seen from the beginning of Marble Street. It was built at the foot of Pion Mountain with its façade facing the harbor street. This is one of the most impressive buildings in Ephesus, originally built in the 3rd century BC. It was rebuilt in the first century AD. It can hold up to 24,000 people. The skene consisted of three levels. A long corridor and eight rooms were built at ground level. The stage was decorated with statues and columns during the reign of Emperor Nero. The Orchestra of the Teatro Grande (semi-circular space between the basement and the stage remained in a very good condition).
Concerts, theatrical performances, social or political meetings took place in the Great Theater. It was the place where St. Paul preached during his journey in Ephesus and the cities of Anatolia. In fact, Saint Paul stayed in Ephesus for two years organizing his mission on Christianity. During his preaching in the Great Theater, St. Paul was interrupted by goldsmiths and other craftsmen who shouted that the Diana of the Ephesians was their goddess. In fact, these people didn’t really believe in Artemis, but they lived on the statues they sold to pilgrims visiting the temple of Artemis.

In the 4th century AD, the Great Theater was destroyed by an earthquake and only part of it was repaired. In the 8th century AD, it was included in the city’s defense system.
Port Street, also known as Arcadia Street, connected the port with the Grand Theater and at the same time crossed Marble Street. It was the first street along which visitors arriving from the port would walk. For this reason, it was decorated with marble columns and slabs. It was illuminated at night and on the other side of the street there were stores. There were also sewage channels under the marble slabs of the street.