Ephesus was ruled by the Lydian king, Kreisos, in the mid-6th century BC. The city reached the "Golden Age" and became a model of culture and the arts. Excavations of Ephesus are still in progress. Other than the Temple of Artemis, the remains of this age have not yet been revealed.
Later, Ephesus was dominated by the Persians. As Ephesians did not join the "Ionian Rebellion" against the Persians, the city was saved from destruction. The rebellion resulted in the loss of Persia. Alexander the Great conquered Persia and the Ionian cities became independent in the year of 334. Ephesus was very prosperous during the time of Alexander the Great. Before his arrival, Ephesus had two governing systems: democratic and oligarchic. The oligarchic system was violated with the coming of a new ruler, which incited rebellion.
The Temple of Artemis was fired and destroyed by the supporters of oligarchy in 356 BC. It is believed that a madman known as Hero stratus set fire to the temple in order to make his name immortal on the same night that Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia. As the temple was left unusable, Alexander the Great later proposed that it be repaired. The Ephesians delicately refused, stating that "A God cannot build a temple for another God". Alexander was very pleased by the compliment and made a special exception. An Ephesian architect, Dinocrates restored the Temple of Artemis.
DO YOU KNOW !!!
Did you know the toilets in Ephesus were arranged side by side, with no partition between them?
Did you know before the wealthy citizens of Ephesus used the toilets, their slaves sat on them in order to warm the seats for their masters?
Did you know the ancient Romans knew the true shape of the world in the 1st century AD? It can be seen from the round shape upon which one foot of the statue of Emperor Trajan is resting, symbolizing his rule of the world.
Did you know the facade of the Celsus Library only has two stories but the interior facade has three stories because of the original architecture?
Did you know that the Celsus Library in Ephesus was the third largest library, with a capacity of 12,000 scrolls, after the Alexandra and Pergamum libraries?
Did you know one of the early philosophers, Heraclitus, was born in Ephesus? He is known for his statement that a man "cannot step into the same river twice".
Did you know the first church dedicated to the Virgin Mary is in Ephesus?
Did you know Ephesus which is now 6 miles away from the sea, was once a sea port?
Do you know that the Ancient City of Ephesus was rebuilt four times and the Ephesus we walk around today is the 3rd one?
Did you know that The Virgin Mary lived the last years of her life in Turkey, here in a small cottage near Ephesus?
Did you know The Virgin Mary’s house in Ephesus was visited by Pope Paul VI and Pope Jean Paul?
Did you know The Third Ecumenical Council convened in the Church of the Virgin Mary? The same church is also known as one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse.
Did you know one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis, is in Ephesus?
Did you know one of the Seven Wonders of the World is believed to have been rebuilt seven times?
Did you know one of the Seven Churches (congregation in the first century AD) of Revelation was in Ephesus? (Revelation 2:1-7)
Did you know St. Paul the Apostle, who was born in Tarsus in the southeast of Turkey, gave lectures in the Tyrannus Hall and the synagogue in Ephesus for two years during his third missionary journey? (Acts 19:8,9)
Did you know that the columns of the Temple of Artemis were 30 meters high?
Did you know The Temple of Artemis covers an area of 125 meters by 60 meters - a space as big as a soccer field?
Did you know the first advertisement of the antiquity, which shows the way to a brothel, is on Marble Street in Ephesus?
Did you know that Marble Street is 800 meters long and Curates Street is 1km long?
Did you know The Grand Theatre in Ephesus has a seating capacity of 24,000 and a height of 38 meters?
Did you know seven Christians who fled Ephesus are believed to have slept in a cave near Ephesus for 200 years?
Did you know Ephesus is the best preserved classical city of the Eastern Mediterranean, and among the best places in the world to genuinely soak in the atmosphere of Roman times?
Did you know that Christians would identify themselves to one another with the sign of the fish (ictus in Greek). They also used the sign of the fish as a short hand for a phrase in which each word represented one letter of ictus ‘Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior’ ?
The tour was wonderful and we really enjoyed every moment of it. The hotel choice was exceptional.What a view!!!! And the food, the best we have had so far and we travel at least once a year abroad sometimes tw...
Read MoreThe tour was wonderful and we really enjoyed every moment of it. The hotel choice was exceptional.What a view!!!! And the food, the best we have had so far and we travel at least once a year abroad sometimes twice for holiday. We love historical sites.
I must mention our guide that we had on the second day at Ephesus Tamer Artug. he was very good, had a good personality and allot of knowledge plus some interesting little tales that he told in between. We really enjoyed our day with him.
Please thank Ender Boz for all the arrangements
Dear Guys, We took the seven day tour to all around Turkey (Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and etc.) through Package Tours Turkey Company and were very satisfied with the Tour and tour Guide called Ha...
Read MoreDear Guys, We took the seven day tour to all around Turkey (Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and etc.) through Package Tours Turkey Company and were very satisfied with the Tour and tour Guide called Harun. We have travelled around the world, and let me tell you, Turkey is a great country and actually we felt very well during our visit because the company workers were very professional, polite and they are very well on tourism. They managed so well. We will recommend this tour to all our friends in our country, and will keep using this services. Kind regards…
We visited Istanbul for the first time on your tour and we are from Greece and we just loved it! We finally were able to see sights that we had only heard from our friends who visited Istanbul before. It was so...
Read MoreWe visited Istanbul for the first time on your tour and we are from Greece and we just loved it! We finally were able to see sights that we had only heard from our friends who visited Istanbul before. It was so amazing to see the especially old town. I recommend people to visit Ephesus and the tour company because they were really great. They managed the tour very well.
First of all i would like to thank very much to Turkey Travel Group for providing our trip to Turkey. We were very excited to come to turkey because it was going to be our first time in Turkey and we were hopin...
Read MoreFirst of all i would like to thank very much to Turkey Travel Group for providing our trip to Turkey. We were very excited to come to turkey because it was going to be our first time in Turkey and we were hoping our trip to be well arranged and to see the nice places we want to visit. we heard very good toughts about Pamukkale and Ephesus. And finally we visited most of historical places and i can say our guide vas fantastic he was very nice and informative person. We also went to visit cappadocia for 2 days and everything fortunately went on very well. We were welcomed at the cappadocia and the tours were excellent.
Turkish people must be very lucky because a lot to see and visit ...
Thank you very much for your kind service. Highly recommend.
After we spent a couple of days in Istanbul we went to Izmir to join daily Ephesus tour. Actually we weren’t expect to visit some other places in Turkey but after our tour operator told us that they might pro...
Read MoreAfter we spent a couple of days in Istanbul we went to Izmir to join daily Ephesus tour. Actually we weren’t expect to visit some other places in Turkey but after our tour operator told us that they might provide daily Ephesus we decided to go. I can say that it was very easy we just took an early flight to izmir and then we were picked up on time and we did Ephesus tour. We had a chance to visit Virgin Mary house by joining the Ephesus tour at the end we were taken to our hotel back. Everything was excellent. I definitely recommend it. Thanks for all.
My girl friend and I were in turkey for a vacation around Turkey and especially Ephesus and Pamukkale and we spent very good time over there and saw more than we expected.
We were welcomed at the airport on o...
Read MoreMy girl friend and I were in turkey for a vacation around Turkey and especially Ephesus and Pamukkale and we spent very good time over there and saw more than we expected.
We were welcomed at the airport on our arrival by our tour company and were taken to our hotel in Istanbul. After we spent a couple of days in Istanbul we were recommended to visit Ephesus and pamukkale and I would like to thank our company that they were very success on their business. Because we saw very nice part of Turkey and also during the tour temple of artemis and the house of virgin Mary with their suggestion.
Our guide was fantastic. He was very informative and nice person.
Thanks for all.
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