Ephesus (Ancient Greek: Ἔφεσος; Turkish: Efes) was an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, which is now in Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League.
The Apostle Paul is said to have addressed an epistle to the Christians of the city, and it is now known as the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament. The site still possesses many well-preserved Roman ruins side by side with rich history.
Ruins
changeOdeons
changeThe most significant ruins are the odeons: concert halls or musical theaters which held around 1,500 people. They were used for artistic performances as well as city council meetings.
Temple of Hadrian
changeAnother important ruin is the Temple of Hadrian. It was built in the second century and has high-quality sculpture craftsmanship.
Curettes Street
changeCurettes Street hosts many monuments and countless columns alongside its marble-paved ground. These include a fountain dedicated to Emperor Trajan.
The remaining parts of a statue there shows that Romans knew the world was round in the first century AD. The statue also depicts latrines (toilets), showing that the Romans cared about public sanitation.
Library of Celsus
changeAt the end of Curettes Street is the Library of Celsus. It was the third biggest library of the ancient world, after the libraries of Alexandria and Pergamon.
When seen from the building's facade, it looks like a two-story building, but in the past it had three stories. The facade shows a rare found craftsmanship. The building took twenty years (from 115 AD to 135 AD) to complete.
Grand theatre
changeAnother important ruin is Ephesus' grand theatre, which could hold 25,000 people. It was used for artistic performances, animal fights, and gladiator matches. The Acts of the Apostles (19:23-41) in the New Testament of the Bible calls the grand theater one of the sacred ruins of Ephesus.
The theater was the site of the "riot of the silversmiths." Because the Apostle Paul's preaching about a single God was bad for business, people who made silver figures of Artemis (a pagan goddess of the city) rioted.
In the 1st century AD, the Apostle Paul spent over three years in Ephesus. He gave many sermons in the grand theater, disapproving of pagan worship.
Related pages
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Other websites
change- All you need on Ephesus Archived 2020-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
- Ephesus UNESCO Silk Road World Heritage Site