Page 152 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

Ephesus
150 EUROPE

One of the best-preserved ancient cities in the world,
Ephesus is a fine example of Classical architecture (Classical
Style, see p. 137}. A Greek city was first established here in
around 1 000 BC and it soon rose to prominence as a center
for the worship of Cybele, the Anatolian mother goddess .
• tzmir
EPHESUS The city w e s ee today was built by Alexander the Great's
successor, Lysimachus, in the 4th century BC. But it w as
under the R omans that Ephesus became the chief port in
MEDITERRMHMJ the Aegean. Most of the surviving structures date from this
SEA
period. The city declined when the harbor silted up, but it
CHURCH OF ST. MARY played an important role in the spread of Christianity. It is
Occupying a place of particular significance in said that the Virgin Mary spent her last days nearby, cared
the development of Christianity, the C hurch
for by St. John the Evangelist, and two ecumenical councils Statue of Artemis in
of StMary, located near the entrance to the Ephesus Museum
of the early Church w ere held here in AD 43 1 and 449.
site, is believed to be the first church in the
world dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was
here, in AD 431 , that the C ounci I of the
Church accepted that Jes us, son of the Virgin Y Colonnaded Street
Mary, was also the son of God. Used as a
warehouse in the Roman era, the long, narrow
building has been altered overtime and was at
one point used for traintng prtests. In the 4th
century, it was converted into a basilica wth
a central nave and two atsles later, an apse
was created on the eastern wall and, to the
western Side of the church, a oraJar baptistry
with a central pool was bUilt. Addtions datirg
from the 6th century tndude a domed chapel
situated between the apse and the entrance
of the original church
Private Houses A
EPHESUS MUSEUM Mur a Is in the houses opposite
The archeological museum at Selt;uk, 2 miles the Temple of Hadrian indicate
that these were the homes
(3 km) from the excavations, is one of the
of weal thy Ephesians.
most important in Turkey. It contains many of
the remarkable artifacts uncovered at Ephesus
since World War II. An entire hall is devoted
to Artemis, the Greek goddess of chastity,
hunting, and the moon. Other exhibits feature Gate of Hercules Y
marble and bronze statues, ancient frescoes, The gate at the entrance to Curetes
Street takes its name from two reliefs
and wall paintings , jewels, Mycenean vases,
showing Hercules draped in a lion skin.
gold and silver coins, Corinthian column Originally a two-story structure, and
heads, tombs , bronze and ivory friezes, and believed to date from the 4th century
the altar from the Temple of Domitian. AD, it had a large central arch with
winged victories on the upper corners
of the archway. Curetes Street was
GENERAL LYSIMACHUS lined with statues of civic notables.
On the death of Alexander the Great tn
323 BC, the Macedontan empire-including
Ephesu~was dMded among his generals.
lysimachus (360-281 BC)was entrusted wth
Thrace. He soon added Asia Mtnor, and tn
286 BC he took Ephesus, heraldtng a new era
for the dty.lt was already a strategtc trading
port, but the receding coastline and silt-filled
harbor threatened tts live lihood. lysimachus
first dredged the harbor. Then he moved the
city to its present site, fortified it Vllith huge
walls and renamed it (for a brief time) Arsinoe,
after his third Vllife. The city soon became
densely populated and began to prosper.