ephesus, Türkiye
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The security line at the entrance operates efficiently like an airport. Beyond, the concrete of the 21st century disappears, replaced by cream columns and marble pavement that stretch into the distance and beyond, green hills.
You will feel like you have traveled back in time to 2000 years ago.
In a country rich with archaeological treasures, the ancient city of Ephesus, located in Turkey’s western Izmir province, remains the crown jewel. In 2025, approximately 2.5 million people visited the ruins of this Greco-Roman port city. Founded in the 10th century BC, this 1,600-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site is approximately 10 times the size of Disneyland and packed with an overwhelming number of historical wonders.
And always popular.
“During the summer season, 70,000 ships used to come to Ephesus,” says tour guide Fatma Günartai as she leads visitors downhill along the sacred path that once connected the city to the 6th-century BC Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. “This city was very wealthy.”
Ephesus was once built at the mouth of the Kaistros River, near the Aegean coast, and flourished as a trading center connecting East and West. Leaders such as Alexander the Great and Antony and Cleopatra left their mark here. The ruins explored today date primarily from the time when the city was a thriving Roman metropolis, and are among the best-preserved ruins from that time.
Calle Cretes, one of the city’s three main thoroughfares, and its streets are still paved with marble, which can become slippery when it rains. Statues of prominent citizens line the route, many missing heads or limbs, while religious and municipal buildings once painted bright colors now appear butter yellow.
Günartai explains that silk shops and incense shops once lined the street, and flowering trees shaded richly dressed pedestrians from the beating sun. An oval hole in the wall once housed a lamp to illuminate the street after dark. More recently, a summer night tour has been introduced, which aims to help visitors imagine what the city once looked like after sunset.
The Temple of Hadrian, a modest Corinthian structure on Via Cretes, is one of the most elegant buildings in Ephesus. Completed in 138 AD, its ornate 8-metre arch with wooden roof still stands almost 2,000 years later. The inner arch features a relief of Medusa, a snake-headed female figure from Greek or Roman mythology, used here to ward off evil spirits.
At the foot of the hill stands the Library of Celsus, the city’s most popular and most photographed landmark. Never judge a book by its cover, but only the facade of this 56-foot-tall Roman masterpiece remains. Empty windows cut out sky blue squares, and tapered marble columns create optical illusions that make the two-story building even grander.
Built in the 2nd century AD, this learning center once housed more than 12,000 scrolls before being destroyed by fire in 262 AD. This building was also a monumental tomb built by the consul Gaius Julius Aquila in memory of his father, Gaius Julius Celsus Polemeanus, who is buried here.
The less intellectual side of life is visible across the street. The remains of a brothel are located opposite the library, and the carvings carved into the pavement of nearby Calle de Cretes are thought to be some of the oldest advertising in the world. It features the outline of a foot, a purse, and a woman, suggesting that visitors with adult-sized feet and enough funds can purchase the services offered there. This is an early version of the “You must be this height to ride” sign at theme parks.
Built around the 1st century AD, this brothel has a reception area and bathing pool on the ground floor, and facilities for entertaining customers on the second floor. A statue of Priapus, the Greek and Roman god of fertility, traditionally depicted holding a giant phallus, was discovered during excavations here and is now on display at the Ephesus Museum near Selcuk.
Imagine the wonders of ancient Ephesus
The Romans were famous for their engineering skills, even when it came to treating sewage. The city’s public toilets have 36 holes lined up along the wall above the drainage system for people to take a break. It is believed that the people who used these then used xylospondium (a sponge with a stick soaked in vinegar) to cleanse themselves.
These toilets formed part of the Baths of Scholastica, the city’s largest bath complex that could accommodate up to 1,000 people and was also an important social center.
“They use Roman baths as cafeterias,” Günartai says. “They gather in the Roman baths to tell stories, gossip, and sometimes discuss important issues such as gladiatorial matches or elections in the Roman Empire.”
In addition to the €40 entrance fee to the ruins, visitors can explore the nearby Terrace Houses (seven well-preserved mansions of Roman aristocrats) for an additional €15. Inside, there is a private bathroom with hot and cold water supplied through clay pipes, and the walls are decorated with frescoes, colorful mosaics, and hand-painted graffiti.
“The Prytanion is the second most important building in Ephesus after the Temple of Artemis,” Günartai says, pointing to the arched columns that still remain. It was once believed that the shrine maidens kept the sacred flame burning day and night, symbolizing the city’s vitality. The city is alive “if the sacred fire is alive,” she said, adding that if the flames go out “it will signal that the end of the Roman Empire is near. That’s why people are so afraid of this reality.”
Two statues of Artemis were discovered here, representing the Greek goddess of hunting and fertility with fertility symbols on her torso. Variously interpreted as breasts or testicles. They are currently on display at the Ephesus Museum.
The Temple of Artemis dates back to the 7th century BC and was one of the largest Greek temples ever built. Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoe IV was executed on the steps of the temple in 41 AD on the orders of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Measuring over 330 feet long and 150 feet wide (approximately 100 meters by 46 meters), the temple was burned down in 356 by an arsonist named Herostratus. He was executed for his actions, and the incident is considered one of the earliest recorded acts of terrorism. Today, only one restored column remains on the site of the original temple outside the main archaeological park.
Ephesus later became an important religious center of early Christianity. From 52 to 55 AD, the Apostle St. Paul spent three years preaching the Gospel here, and is said to have brought Mary, the mother of Jesus, to spend her final days here. The House of the Virgin Mary is a popular site for Christian pilgrimages, located on the slopes of Mount Kolessos, about 5 miles from the archaeological site.
One of the city’s highlights is the huge Grand Theater, which seats 25,000 people and was used for plays, gatherings, religious ceremonies, and, in Roman times, gladiator fights.
“The seats are divided according to occupation,” Günartai said, explaining that strict social hierarchies existed, with people divided by social class, status and gender.
This theater is mentioned in the Bible’s Acts as the site of a riot caused by a silversmith named Demetrius, who was enraged by St. Paul’s sermon against the statue of Artemis, the material of his trade.
Harbor Street was once a busy porticoed road leading to the city’s now-dry port, where traders sold high-end imported goods. Over the centuries, silt gradually pushed the coastline further away, and by the Ottoman period in the 15th century, Ephesus was abandoned.
Looking at today’s arid landscape, some four miles from the sea, it’s hard to imagine what the port once looked like, but things could change.
Günartai said there are government plans to fill in the canal and reconnect the port to the sea. “Sea water comes here, just as it did in ancient times.” The project, first announced in 2017, reportedly includes the construction of a new canal and a marina for pleasure boats. A schedule for completion has not been announced.
If the project comes to fruition, visitors could once again be able to reach Ephesus by sea for the first time in more than 2,000 years.
