Where To Go: Ephesus Ancient City
The first establishment of the ancient city of Ephesus within the borders of Selçuk District of İzmir Province dates back to BC. It goes back to 6000 years. In the researches and excavations carried out in recent years, the mounds (prehistoric hill settlements) around Ephesus and the settlements belonging to the Bronze Ages and Hittites on the Ayasuluk Hill, where the castle is located, were identified. The name of the city was Apasas during the Hittites Period. B.C. Ephesus, the port city where immigrants from Greece started to live in 1050 BC. It was moved around the Temple of Artemis in 560. Ephesus, which is visited today, was built by Lysimakhos, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, BC. It was founded in 300 years. Ephesus, which lived its most glorious times in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, had a population of 200,000 as the capital of the Asian state and the largest port city. Ephesus was relocated again during the Byzantine Period and came to Ayasuluk Hill in Selçuk, where it was founded for the first time.
What is the most important feature of the ancient city of Ephesus? Ephesus, which is the main gate between the East and the West, was an important port city. This location enabled Ephesus to develop as the most important political and commercial center of its age and to become the capital of the province of Asia in the Roman Period. Ephesus does not owe its importance in antiquity to this alone. The largest temple of the Artemis cult, based on the ancient mother goddess (Kybele) tradition of Anatolia, is also located in Ephesus. The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus is considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, 3 km away from today’s Selçuk district, and later an important Roman city.
It was one of the twelve cities of Ionia during the classical Greek period. Its foundation dates back to the Neolithic Age 6000 BC. The first establishment of the ancient city of Ephesus within the borders of Selçuk District of İzmir Province dates back to BC. It goes all the way back to the Neolithic Age, called the Neolithic Age, 6000 BC. In the researches and excavations carried out in recent years, settlements belonging to the Bronze Ages and Hittites were found on the mounds (prehistoric hill settlements) around Ephesus and on the Ayasuluk Hill, where the castle is located. The name of the city was Apasas in the Hittites Period. B.C. The port city of Ephesus, where immigrants from Greece started to live in 1050 BC. It was moved around the Temple of Artemis in 560.
Ephesus, which is visited today, was built by Lysimakhos, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, in BC. It was founded in 300 years. Ephesus, which lived its most glorious periods in the Hellenistic and Roman ages, had a population of 200,000 as the capital of the Asian state and the largest port city. Ephesus was relocated again in the Byzantine Era and came to Ayasuluk Hill in Selçuk, where it was founded for the first time. Ayasuluk, which was taken by the Turks in 1330 and the center of Aydınoğulları, started to shrink gradually since the 16th century, took the name Selçuk after the foundation of our Republic in 1923, and today it is a touristic place with a population of 30,000 people. Ephesus, one of the most important centers of the ancient world, BC. It has always played an important role in the fields of civilization, science, culture and art throughout its history dating back to the 4th millennium. Ephesus, which was the main gate between East and West (Asia and Europe), was an important port city. This location enabled Ephesus to develop as the most important political and commercial center of its age and to become the capital of the province of Asia in the Roman Period. However, Ephesus does not only owe its importance in ancient times to its development as a great trade center and to being a capital city. The biggest temple of the Artemis cult, based on the ancient mother goddess (Kybele) tradition of Anatolia, is also located in Ephesus. This temple is considered one of the seven wonders of the world.
Since Ephesus has been relocated many times throughout its history, its ruins are spread over a wide area. These ruins, which spread over an area of approximately 8 km², are the sections that have been excavated, restored and arranged and are open to visitors.
1- Ayasuluk Hill (The earliest settlement dated to the 3rd millennium BC, and the Church of St. Jean, belonging to the Byzantine Period, which is of great importance for the Christian world)
2- Artemision (An important religious center of the 9th-4th centuries BC; Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world)
3- Ephesus (Archaic-Classical-Hellenistic-Roman and Byzantine Period settlement)
4- Selçuk (Seljuk, Ottoman Period settlement and the modern city that hosts this settlement, which is an important tourism center today), Ephesus, an important civilization center in Antiquity, is an important tourism center visited by an average of 1.5 million people a year.
The first archaeological excavations in Ephesus were carried out on behalf of the British Museum by J.T. It was started by Wood in 1869. Wood’s efforts to find the famous Temple of Artemis, after 1904, D.G. Hogarth continued. The excavations in Ephesus by the Austrians, who continue their work today, were first started by Otto Benndorf in 1895. The work of the Austrian Archeology Institute, which was interrupted during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, continued uninterruptedly after 1954.
In addition to the works of the Austrian Archeology Institute in Ephesus, the Ephesus Museum has also been hosted by the T.C. since 1954. It carries out excavation, restoration and arrangement works on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
