Ancient city of Ephesus is a very important tourist attraction in Turkey and around the world. Ephesus archaeological site lies 4 km from the center of Selçuk and only 20% of the site was excavated. Library of Celsus, Temple of Artemis, Odeon, Temple of Hadrian, Temple of Domitian and the Theater are the most significant monuments of Ephesus.
The temple of Artemis at Ephesus is known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Temple was first built around 550 BCE in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, near the mouth of the Menderes River, in what is today West Turkey, South of Smyrna (now Izmir). Today the site of the temple, is marked by a single column constructed of dissociated fragments discovered on the site.
Over the centuries, a succession of empires - Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and, finally, Ottoman - ruled over the city of Ephesus. In the second century A.D. nearly 300,000 people lived in Ephesus. The city remained one of the most vibrant metropolises of the ancient world.
Today, a few columns are all that remain of the temple. The ruins of Ephesus take on a value and a special significance among the numerous sites of an archaeological interest. But there is still much to see that evokes the city's former splendor. A three-tiered theater, built into the slope of a hill, with over 25,000 seats. Just outside the city stands the Church of Saint John, built in the fourth century over the evangelist's presumed tomb and expanded into a basilica some 200 years later.
It is one of the cities which played an impressive role in the beginnings of Christianity and during the period of its proliferation (St.John Church and the shrine of the Virgin Mary). Ancient city of Ephesus is considered one of the largest outdoor museum in the world.
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