The ancient city of Ephesus (Turkey) is located in the western part of the peninsula of Asia Minor, also known by its Greek name Antalya. By modern standards, it is small - its population barely reaches 225 thousand people. Nevertheless, thanks to its history and the monuments preserved in it from past centuries, it is one of the most visited cities in the world by tourists.
City of the Goddess of Fertility
In antiquity, and it was founded by the Greeks in the XI century BC. e., the city was famous for the cult of the local goddess of fertility that flourished here, who eventually embodied in the goddess of fertility Artemis. This generous and hospitable celestial in the VI century BC. e. the inhabitants of the city erected a temple recognized as one of the seven wonders of the world.
The city of Ephesus reached unprecedented prosperity in the VI century BC. e., when he was under the rule of the Lydian king Croesus, who captured him, whose name in modern language has become synonymous with we alth. This ruler, drowning in luxury, spared no expense and decorated his temples with new statues, and acted as a patron of science and art. Under him, the city was glorified with their names by many prominentpersonalities such as the ancient philosopher Heraclitus and the ancient poet Kallinus.
City life in the first centuries of our era
However, the peak of the city's development falls on the I-II century AD. e. During this period, it was part of the Roman Empire, and a lot of money was spent on its improvement, thanks to which aqueducts, the library of Celsus, thermae - ancient baths, were built, and the Greek theater was rebuilt. One of the many attractions of the city was its main street, which descended to the port and was decorated with columns and porticos. It was named after the Roman Emperor Arcadius.
The city of Ephesus is repeatedly mentioned in the New Testament, in particular, in the books "Acts of the Apostles" and "The Revelation of John the Theologian", also known as the "Apocalypse". The first followers of Christ began to appear in it during the period of the Savior's earthly ministry, and in 52-54 the Apostle Paul lived in the city and preached the word of God. Researchers also have reason to believe that John the Theologian, who died and was buried in Ephesus, wrote his Gospel here. Holy Tradition connects this city with the last years of the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mother of Jesus Christ.
The sea that left the city
At the foundation of Ephesus - the city of Artemis - was founded on the shores of the Aegean Sea and was the largest port center of antiquity. But then the unexpected happened - either the goddess quarreled with the supreme ruler Zeus, and he poured out his anger on the city, or the reasons were of a natural order, but only in the 6th century AD. e. harbor suddenlyshallow and overgrown with silt.
The residents had to move their homes to a new location near the current Turkish city of Selcuk, starting construction on Ayasoluk Hill. But the sea still continued to recede, depriving this ancient city of most of the income. Ephesus gradually fell into decay. Landslides and earthquakes completed the job, filling its ruins with sand, and reliably preserving it for future archaeologists.
Forgotten Antiquity
The matter was completed by the Arabs, who in the 7th century increased their raids and finally destroyed what the hand of the blind element had not yet reached. Seven centuries later, the Ottoman Empire captured a significant part of Asia Minor, including the territory on which the city of Ayasoluk, neighboring Ephesus, was located.
From that time on, it began to develop, but already within the framework of the Islamic tradition. Mosques, caravanserais and Turkish baths appeared on its streets. A hundred years later, the city was renamed, and it received its current name Selcuk, and the city of Ephesus was finally abandoned and fell asleep for several centuries under a layer of sand brought here by a hot wind.
Excavations of an enthusiastic archaeologist
The history of archaeological excavations on the territory of the ancient city dates back to 1863. They were initiated by the British engineer and architect John Turtle Wood, who designed railway station buildings in Turkey. Set out to find the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, mentioned in the New Testament, he obtained permission from the local authorities to carry out the work.
The task was notfrom the lungs, because the only information that the self-taught archaeologist had was information about where the city of Ephesus was located, but he did not have any specific data on its layout and buildings.
The city that rose from oblivion
Three years later, the first reports of John Wood's discoveries spread around the world, and since that time, the city of Ephesus, where outstanding monuments of Hellenic culture were created in previous centuries, attracted everyone's attention.
To this day, the city has preserved many unique monuments dating back to the Roman period of its history. Even with much to be unearthed, what lies before the eye today is striking in its splendor and makes it possible to imagine the grandeur and brilliance of this city in its heyday.
The theater and Marble Street leading to it
One of the main attractions of Ephesus are the ruins of its theater, built in the Hellenic period, but undergoing significant reconstruction during the reign of the Roman emperors Domitian and his successor Trajan. This truly grandiose building could accommodate twenty-five thousand spectators, and in a later period was part of the city wall.
Everyone who got to the City of Ephesus by sea could proceed from the port to the theater along a four-hundred-meter street lined with marble slabs. Trading shops that stood on its sides alternated with statues of ancient gods and ancient heroes, striking the eyes of visitors with their perfection. By the way, the inhabitants of the city were not onlyaesthetes, but also quite practical people - during excavations under the street, they discovered a fairly developed sewage system.
The library is a gift from the Roman Emperor
Among other cultural centers of the ancient world, the city of Ephesus was also known for its library, named after Celsus Polemean, the father of the Roman emperor Titus Julius, who built it in memory of him, and installed his sarcophagus in one of the halls. It should be noted that the burial of the dead in public buildings was an extremely rare occurrence in the Roman Empire, and was allowed only in cases of special merit of the deceased.
Fragments of the building that have survived to this day are part of the facade, richly decorated with allegorical figures placed in niches. Once upon a time, the collection of the library of Celsus included twelve thousand scrolls, stored not only in cabinets and on shelves, but also right on the floor of its vast halls.
Temple guarded by Medusa Gorgon
In addition to the Temple of Artemis, which in ancient times was the hallmark of the city, many more places of worship were built in Ephesus. One of them is the Sanctuary of Hadrian, the ruins of which can be seen from Marble Street. Its construction dates back to 138 AD. e. From the former splendor of this pagan temple, only a few surviving fragments remain.
Among them are four Corinthian columns supporting a triangular pediment with a semicircular arch in the middle. Inside the temple, you can see a bas-relief of the Gorgon Medusa guarding the temple, and on the opposite wall - images of variousancient gods, in one way or another connected with the founding of the city. Previously, there were also statues of quite real rulers of the world - the Roman emperors Maximian, Diocletian and Gallery, but today they have become exhibits of the city's museum.
District of the richest residents of the city of Ephesus
The history of the city during the period of Roman rule was also immortalized in the sculptural complex built near the entrance to the temple of Hadrian, surrounding the fountain of Troyan. In the center of the composition stood a marble statue of this emperor, from which a water jet rose to the sky. Around her in respectful poses were statues of the immortal inhabitants of Olympus. Today, these sculptures also adorn museum halls.
Opposite the Temple of Hadrian were the houses where a select part of the Ephesian society lived. In modern terms, it was an elite quarter. Situated on a hillside, the buildings were designed in such a way that the roof of each of them served as an open terrace for the adjacent, located one level below. The perfectly preserved mosaics that lined the pavement in front of the houses give an idea of the luxury in which their inhabitants lived.
The buildings themselves were richly decorated with frescoes and various sculptural images, partially preserved to this day. Their plots included, in addition to the ancient deities traditional in such cases, also images of prominent people of the past. For example, one of them depicts the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.
Christian shrines of the city
BIn this city, monuments of ancient paganism and the Christian culture that replaced it miraculously coexist side by side, one of which is the Basilica of St. John. In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian I ordered that it be erected on the site where the holy apostle, author of the Apocalypse and one of the Gospels, was supposedly buried.
But the main Christian shrine of Ephesus, no doubt, is the house in which, according to legend, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, spent her last years. As the legend says, already on the Cross, the Savior entrusted the care of Her to her beloved disciple - the Apostle John, and he, keeping the Teacher's order sacredly, moved her to his house in Ephesus.
There is also a very beautiful legend associated with one of the caves, located on the slope of a nearby mountain. According to popular belief, during the days of persecution of Christianity, seven young men who professed the true faith were saved in it. To protect them from inevitable death, the Lord sent them into a deep sleep, in which they spent two centuries. The young Christians woke up already in complete safety - by that time their faith had become the state religion.
