Ephesus was ruled by the Lydian king, Kreisos, in the mid 6BC. The city reached the "Golden Age" and became a good model to the Antic World in culture and art, as well. As the detailed excavations have not completed yet, apart from the Artemis, the remains of that age haven’t been revealed.
Later, Ephesus was dominated by Persians. As Ephesians did not join the "Ionian Rebellion" against Persians, the city was saved from destruction. The rebellion resulted in the loss of Persian. Alexander the Great won Persians and the Ionian cities got their independence in the year of 334. Ephesus was in great prosperity during the times of Alexander the Great Until the arrival of Alexander the Great, Ephesus was consisted of two governing systems, democratic and oligarchic. But the oligarchic system was violated with the coming of a new ruler, and a rebellion existed in Ephesus.
The Temple of Artemis was fired and destroyed by the supporters of oligarchy in 356BC.But it is believed that a madman known as Herostratus set fire to the temple in order to make his name immortal on the same night in Macedonia Alexander the Great was born. As the temple became unusable, Alexander the Great proposed for repairing. But the Ephesians delicately refused for the reason that "A God can not built a temple for another God.".So Alexander who was very proud of himself as a God, gave some special priviledges to the city. An Ephesian architect, Dinocrates restored the Temple of Artemis.
DO YOU KNOW !!!
Do you know Ephesus is considered one of the great outdoor museums of Turkey?
Do you know the toilets in Ephesus were ranged side by side with no partition between them?
Do you know before the rich people used the toilets their slaves sat and heated toilets’ stone for their masters?
Do you know the ancient Romans knew the true shape of the world even back in the 1st century AD? It can be understood from the round shape on which one foot of Emperor Trajan is resting, symbolized his rule of the world.
Do you know the facade of Celsus Library has 2 stories but the interior facade has 3 stories because of original architecture?
Do you know the Celsus Library in Ephesus was the third largest library with the capacity of 12,000 scrolls after the Alexandra and Pergamum?
Do you know one of the early philosophers Heraclitus was born in Ephesus and his famous motto that an individual can and can not step into the same river twice?
Do you know the first church dedicated to Virgin Mary is in Ephesus?
Do you know Ephesus which was once a seaport is now 6 miles away from the sea?
Do you know that Ancient City of Ephesus was built 4 times in the history and the Ephesus we walk around today is the 3th one?
Do you know that The Virgin Mary lived her last years of her life in Turkey, here in a small cottage near Ephesus?
Do you know The Virgin Mary’s house in Ephesus is visited by Pope the 6th Paul and Pope Jean Paul as well?
Do 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?
Do you know one of the seven wonders of the antiquity, Temple of Artemis, is at Ephesus?
Do you know one of the seven wonders of the world is believed to be rebuilt 7 times?
Do you know one of the Seven Churches (congregation in the first century AD) of Revelation was in Ephesus? (Revelation 2:1-7)
Do you know St. Paul the Apostle was born in Tarsus, in southeast of Turkey, gave lecture in the Tyrannus Hall and the synagogue in Ephesus for two years in his third missionary journey? (Acts 19:8,9)
Do you know that the columns of Artemis was 30 meters high?
Do you know Artemis Temple covers an area of 125meters by 60meters, as big as a soccer field?
Do you know the first advertisement of the antiquity, which shows the way to the brothel, is on the Marbel Street in Ephesus?
Do you know that The Marble Street is 800 meters long and Curetes Street is 1km long?
Do you know The Grand Theatre in Ephesus has seating capacity of 24000 and a high of 38meters?
Do you know 7 Christians who fled Ephesus is believed to have slept in a cave near Ephesus for 200 years?
Do you know Ephesus is the best preserved classical city of the Eastern Mediterranean, and among the best places in the world enabling one to genuinely soak in the atmosphere of Roman times?
Do you know that Christians would identify themselves to one another with the sign of the fish which is iktus in Greek and Christians used the sign of the fish as a short hand for a phrase in which each word represented one letter of iktus ‘Jesus Christ God's Son Savior’ ?
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.
Do you know Ephesus is considered one of the great outdoor museums of Turkey?
Add Photo
Add Video
Add Reviews
Read More
Less
