Ephesus Ottoman Empire. Ephesus is the ancient city of Artemis in Turkey.
More ancient sights have been preserved in Turkey than anywhere else. The beautiful Phaselis, the mysterious city of Side, the legendary Aspendos in Turkey, the sunken Simena (Kekov), the only city where life continues to this day, the city of Konya, and of course, the most famous - city of Ephesus.
A few years later, Paul wrote to a group of Ephesians, telling them that they were a temple, but of Almighty God. The goddess who largely gave Ephesus its wealth and importance, so that it was a kind of Lourdes from ancient world, lay at the basis of such human thinking. She stemmed from early manifestations of religious beliefs, mother goddess figures, which can be found from Asia Minor to the Cyclades, and west to Sicily. In the embodiment of the feminine principle, she represented not only fertility, but also resurrection in the form of new birth, the eternal return of life to the earth and, as found in several early drawings, the "Tree of Life".
The city of Ephesus is located near the resort of Bodrum on the Aegean Sea.
- one of the most ancient Hellenic cities, the approximate date of its foundation is the 9th century BC.
The city of Ephesus in Turkey is one of the few places where you can feel all the grandeur of the historical and cultural heritage not only in Turkey, but throughout the world.
As Isis she gave birth to a divine son, Horus, and as Artemis she was the Mother of Wild Things, goddess of all animals. The Isis-Artemis concept covered everything. It could be taken on any level, from the simple peasant concept of a divinity that would ensure that his animals and land were fruitful, to the intellectual idea of an all-powerful mother who sustained the entire universe.
Although Luke does not mention that Paul was imprisoned in Ephesus, Paul himself told the church in Corinth: For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of our trouble which came upon us in Asia: that we were overburdened; beyond strength, so that we despair even of life. Another time he spoke of his battle “with the beasts in Ephesus.”
This ancient city is the custodian of one of the seven wonders of the world - the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Ephesus in Turkey- most Big city antiquity, which has survived to this day. Perhaps this is the only place in the world where you can fully experience the atmosphere of life of our very, very distant ancestors.
It is completely impossible to believe, but the appearance of the city of Ephesus has changed very little. Ancient streets of white marble lead to ancient monuments and buildings, many of which have no analogues.
At the end of the first century, our Lord said of the Christians in Ephesus: I know your works, your work, your patience, and that you cannot tolerate those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and they are not, and you have found them liars. A city as famous as Ephesus, located on the highway of the world, must have had its share of false teachers, even men claiming to be apostles. In an era where we pride ourselves on tolerance and compromise, this attitude can seem bigoted and intolerant.
No, intolerance, yes, but intolerance that the Lord praised. Churches today will do well to follow such a course with their intellectually oriented teachers and leaders who twist the truth and make boastful claims about their own human wisdom. the practice of proving all spirits.
Only in the city of Ephesus Turkey you can see so many sights at once. The ruins of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the temple of the Roman emperor Hadrian, the temple of Sirapis, the god of fertility, the fountain of Emperor Trojan, the ruins of the sanctuary of nymphs, the ruins of baths, gymnasiums, the legendary library of Celsus, where 12 thousand parchment scrolls have survived to this day in a completely unknown way.
At this time, the Church of St. John was built by the Byzantine emperor. The ruins of Ephesus, located near the city of Selcuk 70 km south of Izmir, are a major center of archaeological interest due to the ancient remains still preserved. As you enter through the Magnesian Gate, you can see the State Agora. The Temple of Isis is located in the center of the Agora, and the Stoa is on the north side. The Varias Baths are located on the east side of the Odeion. The Street of the Curets starts down from the Temple of Memmius.
The Gate of Hercules is located on this avenue. The houses of the rich people of Ephesus that were before it were restored and are now open to the public with special permits. The Temple of Artemis is one of the places to visit in Ephesus besides the Church of St. On the night when Alexander the Great was born, the temple was destroyed by a madman named Herostatus, who always wanted to be remembered in the future and was reconstructed by the citizens of Ephesus. Some of the column bases of the temple are decorated with relief designs. Today, two marble statues of the goddess Artemis can be seen in the nearby archaeological museum.
Also of interest is the perfectly preserved huge amphitheater, which is much larger than other famous amphitheaters in the cities of Side and Demre (Mira).
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Turkey. House of the Virgin Mary.
And, of course, the main attraction not only of Ephesus, but of all of Turkey, is Temple of Artemis at Ephesus- one of the seven wonders of the world. Like another wonder of the world located in Turkey, the mausoleum at Halicarnassus makes an indelible impression.
Some other friezes are in the British Museum in London. On Bulbul-Dag there is the House of the Maiden, where she believes that she passed last years of her life and died. She came to Ephesus with St. John and climbed Mount Panagia Capulu to survive Roman persecution. the site is recognized as a Vatican sanctuary and is visited by popes. Today, the House of the Virgin Mary has been renovated by the George Kathman Foundation of Ohio and serves as a small church that attracts many Christians as well as Muslims who come to pray for it.
Mass is held here every Sunday. Maximilian, Iamblikus, Martinian, John, Dionysius, Exacudodian and Antoninus. John, where he was buried after his exile in Patmos; Roman aquaducts; and the Archaeological Museum of Ephesus, which preserves ancient remains found in the ruins of Ephesus and the surrounding area. Moreover, the village of Sirints is an interesting mixture of the past-Greek existence with today's local Turkish people producing homemade wine and olive oil.
Unfortunately, in the city of Ephesus in Turkey, only the ruins of the most famous temple of Artemis have reached us, but there is even more room for imagination. Scientists have restored an approximate view of the grandiose building of its time. The entire view of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus can so far only be seen on paper.
Now one of the columns of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus has been restored, on top of which the birds of happiness - storks - have built a nest. This event was considered symbolic, because Artemis of Ephesus was considered a “mother goddess.”
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. D: A troop of crusaders stops in a dirty little village in Asia Minor. This place is not what he expected. He read in ancient texts that it was big sea port with many ships docked in its bay. The sea is three miles from the hotel. The village is located in a swamp. There are no ships in sight. The leader addresses the person next to him.
“Sir, is this the city of Ephesus?” And where is the magnificent Greek temple we heard about? Now this is the confusion of man. Temple? And now, 800 years after its destruction, the magnificent Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was completely forgotten by the people of the city that once held it in such pride.
Besides Artemis of Ephesus, the other most famous mother who lived in this city was the Virgin Mary. Here, in a small house on the mountain, she completed her earthly journey. It was in Turkey, in the city of Ephesus, that a dogma was adopted that recognized the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God.
Walking along the now deserted streets of the city of Ephesus in Turkey, looking at the remains of the Temple of Artemis from Ephesus, one can’t help but imagine a large and busy ancient city, with its own way of life, laws, people who, just like us, lived, loved, hoped.... The only inhabitants of the city of Ephesus today are tame turtles crawling through the ruins.
And there is no doubt that the temple is truly magnificent. I saw the walls and hanging gardens ancient Babylon, - wrote Philo of Byzantium, - a statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, a mighty work tall pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. So what happened to this great temple? What happened to the city that hosted him? What turned Ephesus from a busy trading port into a few shacks in a swamp?
Sanctuary of the goddess Artemis. The Ephesian goddess Artemis, sometimes called Diana, is not exactly the same figure as in Greece. Greek Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. Ephesus Artemis was a fertility goddess and was often depicted as draped with eggs or several breasts, symbols of fertility, from her waist to her shoulders. This earliest temple contained a sacred stone, probably a meteorite that "fell from Jupiter." The shrine was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the next few hundred years. He designed it with tall stone columns.
Millennia passed one after another, civilizations replaced each other, and here in Turkey in ancient times city of Ephesus The beauty and richness of the ancient world is felt like nowhere else.
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A city that is definitely worth a visit if you come to Turkey on vacation. This is the ancient city of Ephesus. Ephesus is the most visited attraction in Turkey, as well as the second most important ancient city in the Mediterranean after.
A young Ephesus named Herostratus, who would stop at nothing to make his name go down in history, set fire to the wooden roof of the building. He managed to burn the structure to the ground. The citizens of Ephesus were so shocked by this act that after torturing Herostratus to death, they issued a decree that anyone who even spoke of his name would be put to death. One of the legends that grew up about the great fire was that the night in which the temple burned was the same night on which Alexander the Great was born. According to the story, the goddess Artemis was so concerned about the safe birth of Alexander that she was unable to save her own temple from its fiery destruction.
Ephesus Türkiye, city of Ephesus
Ephesus is an ancient city located on west coast, near the mouth of the Small Menderes River. The city of Ephesus is famous throughout the world thanks to the Temple of Artemis - one of the seven wonders of the world. Getting to Ephesus is not difficult. It is best to come to Selcuk and stay here for a couple of days to better see the sights of Ephesus, since it is impossible to do this in one day. Some monuments can be reached on foot; dolmushi and taxis run to all others from the bus station.
Construction of the Great Temple. Soon after the fire, a new temple was put into operation. The architect was Skopas Paros, one of the most famous sculptors of its time. By this point, Ephesus was one of the greatest cities in Asia Minor, and there was no expense involved in reconstruction. According to Pliny Elder, the Roman historian, the new temple was “a remarkable monument of Greek splendor and worthy of our genuine admiration.”
The temple was built in the same damp place, as before. Pliny recorded that under a layer of charcoal he wore rusas covered with wool. Pliny also noted that one of the reasons the builders kept the temple in its original swampy place, was that they reasoned that it would help protect the structure from the earthquakes that plague the region.
A little bit of history
The first settlements on the territory of Ephesus date back to the Neolithic period (early 9500 BC), as evidenced by excavations of the Arvalli and Cucurici mounds. There are also settlements from the Early Bronze Age (beginning 3500 - 3300 BC), and more recently a cemetery was found that dates back to the Mycenaean era (1500 - 1400 BC). Throughout the history of its existence, Ephesus has been repeatedly subjected to brutal raids, during which there was significant destruction, and was also influenced by various eras and cultures. It was the Roman period that left a big imprint on Ephesus; quite a lot of architectural monuments have been preserved. Arab robberies of the 7th – 8th centuries brought the city into severe decline, and by the beginning of the 14th century, only a small village remained from the majestic city and noisy port. In the 15th century, Ephesus was completely abandoned.
Great Temple considered to be the first building built entirely of marble. Like its predecessor, the temple had 36 columns, the lower parts of which were carved with figures in high relief. The temple also contained many works of art, including four bronze statues of Amazons. The Amazons, according to myth, took refuge in Ephesus from Hercules, the Greek demigod, and founded the city.
Pliny recorded the length of this new temple as 425 feet and width as 225 feet. About 127 columns, 60 feet high, supported the roof. In comparison, the Parthenon, the remains of which still stand on the Acropolis in Athens today, was only 230 feet long, 100 feet wide and had 58 columns.
Sights of Ephesus
Much has been preserved in Ephesus historical monuments, especially the Roman era. Library of Celsius - the two-tiered façade, decorated with columns, has been preserved. The library was built in the period 114 - 135 AD. The Odeon is a semicircular structure, often called the Maly Theater. According to the inscription on the theater, it was built in 150 AD and had a seating capacity of 1,400. Agora - dates back to the Roman era; it was once a center of trading activity, where people came from all over the Roman Empire.
According to Pliny, construction took 120 years, although some experts suspect it may have taken only half that time. We know that when Alexander the Great came to Ephesus in 333 B.C. the temple was still under construction. He offered to finance the completion of the temple if the city would consider him the developer. The city fathers did not want Alexander's name to be carved in the temple, but he did not want to say it. They finally gave a tactful answer: “It cannot be argued that one god should build a temple for another god,” and Alexander did not insist on this.
The theater is considered one of the three monuments in this archaeological zone that are best preserved to this day. The theater's capacity is approximately 24,000 - 25,000 spectators, the entire hall rises a maximum of 30 meters above the stage. Temple of Adriana - was built in 135 AD and consists of two central columns that support an arch - this is all that was once preserved from the tympanum. Also preserved in the center is a podium on which stood a statue dedicated to the emperor Hadrian.
Pliny reported that earthen ramps were used to produce heavy stone beams placed on top of the columns. This method seemed to work well until one of the largest beams was installed in position above the door. It was crooked, and the architect could not find a way to lie in it. He was beside himself with worry about this until he had a dream that night when the Goddess herself appeared to him, telling him that he should not worry. She herself moved the stone to the correct position. The next morning the architect discovered that the dream was true.
On the opposite side of the Temple of Hadrian there is an architectural complex called “Houses on the Hillside”, the front side faces Kuretov Street. These houses were mainly inhabited by the rich class of society, which is why there is another name, “Houses of the Rich”. All houses are located so that each house also serves as a terrace for the next house. One of the most popular houses is the House of Perestil II, built back in the 1st century AD, richly decorated with decorations. Almost all rooms in the houses have mosaic floors and numerous frescoes for painting.
Basilica of St. John - was built in the 6th century under Justinian. Public House – located on the opposite side of the Celsus Library. An underground tunnel led from the library to the Brothel, supposedly so that husbands would deceive their wives, saying that they were going to the library, while they themselves secretly went to the Brothel. But many scientists disagree with this; they argue that the Public Library was residential building very rich family.
Street of Curetes - stretches along the Library of Celsus and the Gate of Hercules to the Agora. The street acquired the appearance that has survived to this day during the 4th–5th centuries, during reconstruction after a strong earthquake. It consists of paving made of marble and other natural stones, which combine perfectly with antique buildings. Here you can find columns, pedestals, ruins of residential buildings, podiums, capitals, statues, friezes, as well as the remains of shops. On the street there is a marble slab on which the laws of Ephesus were engraved. On this and other streets, pits were dug, which were covered with bars in order to imprison those convicted of murder or rape, and everyone who passed by had the right to spit in the pit, thus expressing condemnation.
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Prytanium - in ancient times this was the name of the municipality; clerical services were located here, as well as banquets and festive receptions. Next to Prytanium is the Temple of Hestia, in which the sacred fire always burned. This temple dates back to the 3rd century BC. The Temple of Artemis - all that has survived from the temple to this day is one inconspicuous surviving column. This column was discovered during excavations in the 1870s. Some minor finds are in the British Museum and the Istanbul Museum.
The location of the monuments is clearly visible on the map, so you can create a convenient route for yourself.
1. Ruins of Ephesus 2. House of the Virgin Mary 3. Cave of the Seven Sleeping Youths 4. Ephesus Airfield 5. Temple of Artemis 6. Gendarmerie 7. Isa Bey Mosque 8. Church of St. John 9. Selcuk Fortress 10. Locomotive Museum in Çamlık 11. Aqueduct 12 Police Department 13. Municipal Swimming Pool 14. City Hospital 15. Tourist Police Office 16. Archaeological Museum 17. Tourist Information Office 18. Bus Station 19. City Hall 20. City Hall 21. Turkish Bath 22. Train Station 23. Shirince village 24. Port of ancient Ephesus 25. Reserve " Bird paradise» 26. Pamucak Beach