Ephesus (Efes)
A great classical city — and a place of pilgrimage.
Ephesus holds the Library of Celsus, the site of the Temple of Artemis — one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world — and, on the hill above, the house where tradition holds the Virgin Mary spent her final years.
The city
Ephesus is among the best-preserved classical cities in the Mediterranean. At its height it was a Roman provincial capital and a working port of perhaps two hundred thousand people. The two-storey façade of the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre, cut for around 25,000 spectators, both still stand. Of the Temple of Artemis, once counted among the Seven Wonders, a single reassembled column remains. Ephesus entered the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015.
Faith tourism
On Bülbül Mountain above the ruins stands the House of the Virgin Mary — Meryem Ana Evi — held by a long tradition to be where Mary lived after leaving Jerusalem. It is a place of Catholic pilgrimage and has been visited by Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. In nearby Selçuk, the Basilica of St John is traditionally said to stand over the apostle's tomb. The site draws Christian and Muslim visitors alike.
Getting there
Ephesus is about 20 km from Kusadasi and 80 km from Izmir — close enough that patients staying on the Aegean coast for treatment often see it in half a day.