EPHESUS
The Ancient City of Ephesus
The historic city in Anatolia is called Ephesus. The Ephesus ancient city ruins are located on Turkey's Aegean Coast, close to the well-known coastal town of Kusadasi. They are a wonderful tribute to the tremendous effort of historians and archaeologists over many centuries.
Attic and Ionian Greek immigrants established Ephesus on the site of the old Arzawan city in the tenth century BC. It was one of the twelve cities that made up the Ionian League in Classical Greece. In 129 BC, the city fell under the rule of the Roman Republic.
The neighboring Temple of Artemis, finished around 550 BC and now considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was the center of fame for the city during its splendor.
One of its many impressive structures was the Library of Celsus, which could accommodate 24,000 people.
Tourists to Turkey frequently visit the ancient city of Ephesus because of its stunning ruins and immense historical and religious significance. Ephesus profited from the Roman rule in terms of importance and reputation, but the local council's persecution of many residents who converted to the new religion signaled a turning point. They consequently met secretly. Biblical characters, including Paul, John, and the Virgin Mary, also visited the city.
According to several Christian historians, Saint John composed his Gospel there, and when the Virgin Mary was near death, he carried her to the lush Selcuk Hills above Ephesus, where he buried her. Despite being unproven, the Roman Catholic Church keeps vigil on her shrine and welcomes dozens of visitors daily
The Carians and Lydians, the area's initial settlers, are most likely responsible for this location's first walled colony and direct access to the sea.
Arriving Ionian Greeks began to Hellenize this hamlet in the eleventh century BCE.
Ephesus became a thriving commercial city because of its ideal location on an inlet cutting deeply into the landscape, at the terminus of a key trade route from the interior, and on a fertile plain.
As the seat of the Roman province of Asia throughout the first and second century CE, the city maintained its wealth and grew to be the second-largest city in the East after Alexandria, with a population of more than 200,000.
When the Goths wrecked Ephesus in 263 CE during one of their raiding excursions, it signaled the start of the city's long downfall. Ephesus' prominence and size progressively decreased due to the harbor's constant silting up.
However, the city was still significant enough to host the Third Ecumenical Council in the fifth century (431 CE).
Ephesus' ultimate act was to be taken by Tamarlane's Mongols, who also pillaged the city. The town's remaining remnants were later destroyed during the bloody battles between the Seljuks and the Ottomans.
The Gymnasium of Vedius is located on the incline of the hill to Ephesus' left (2nd century AD).
The palaestra (wrestling hall), a vast rectangular structure with an arcaded courtyard, is still visible in its ruins. The better-preserved eastern half of the structure, which is made of brick and has a marble front, reveals intriguing interior elements.
The Stadium, built during Nero's reign, is located about 100 meters south of the Gymnasium of Vedius (CE 54-68).
Although the stone seats were once present, they have since been removed. The spectator seating tiers were cut out of the slope on the south side. The arena at the Stadium's semicircular east end, which could be divided from the main area, could host gladiatorial contests and animal fighting without a circus.
From the Gymnasium of Vedius to the Stadium, a marble-surfaced road stretched east to the Koressos Gate, of which some remains may still be visible.
About 200 meters south of the Gymnasium of Vedius, on the left side of a modern road, are the remnants of a Byzantine building. The enormous room on the south side with semicircular niches and the 50-meter-long lapsed hall.
Immediately west of the theatre gym is a sizable collection of structures, the layout of which is difficult to determine.
The largest arcaded area for athletic training is the Square of Verulanus, located closest to the gymnasium. Beyond this is the harbor gymnasium, which dates to the Early Empire.
This was built from a variety of buildings organized around a central courtyard. On the north and south sides of the courtyard, two magnificent marble chambers were 16 meters by 32 meters in size and had niches for statues and columns in each.
The magnificent baths, often called harbor baths, were located beyond here. They were built in the second century CE and lavishly refurbished under the reign of Constantine the Great in the fourth century.
