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- In 334 B.C. Ephesus was conquered by Alexander the Great
who initiated the reconstruction of the temple which had
been set on fire by Hierostatus on the very knight that
the Macedonian champion was born. Ephesus became a great
capital of Asia Minor after 133 B.C. when it became subject
to Rome,and it also evolved as a centre for commerce.Amongst
all the Roman-dominated cities in Anatolia, Ephesus certainly
has the best preserved and appreciated monuments but above
all it is the city where the quality of Roman life can still
be breathed today, and where one can form an impression
of what life was like at that time.
- Goths from Crimea conquered the city and looted the Temple
of Artemis, then considered to be one of the wonders of
the ancient world, and the city's decline dates from then.
It was from here that first Paul the Apostle and then John
began to spread Christianity. St Paul, who came from Tarsus,
spent three years at Ephesus and founded the first of the
seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelations, before
being ousted by Ephesian silversmiths. St. John lived here
with the Virgin Mary while he wrote his gospel. In 100 A.D.
St John was buried in the city and Justinian erected a basilica
over his tomb.
- In 431 A.D. Theodosius II convened the Third Council at
Ephesus, during which the Nestorian heresy was condemned
and the Virgin Mary's divine maternity affirmed. The Library
of Celsus, reconstructed by Austrian archaeologists, is
without doubt one of Ephesus' more important monuments.
It was erected by Tiberius Julius Aquila in memory of his
father, Julius Celsus Polimeanus (proconsul in Asia) in
135 A.D. His Sarcophagus, of fine carved marble, is situated
in the funerary chamber underneath the library.
- The two-storied building has a sumptuously decorated facade
with Corinthian columns and capitals together with niches
filled with statues representing Wisdom and Intelligence.
Three doors lead into the great reading room, which in antiquity
had a wooden roof, and where, in the centre, there stood
a statue of Athena. The marble-lined aligned walls contained
niches where the parchment scrolls were kept. At that time
the library's collection amounted to around twelve thousand
scrolls. Hollow spaces were constructed behind the walls
(a great engineering feat) preventing damp from damaging
the scrolls.
- The main road, the street of the Curetes, runs through
the centre between the Library of Celsus and the Agora.
Numerous buildings gave onto this street which was paved
in marble and stone. On each side there was a colonnaded
portico behind which galleries paved with mosaics provided
access to private dwellings, shops and workshops.
- Some of the inscriptions on the columns are clearly visible,
adjacent to statues of citizens who contributed towards
the birth of the city. The street was reconstructed after
its destruction by an earthquake during the fourth century
A.D. It was called the street of the Curetes in memory of
a community of priests called the Curetes who worshipped
Artemis who every year organised dramatic displays in honour
of the goddess at Ortigia, near Ephesus. The Odeum, or "Small
Theatre" on the slopes of Mount Panayir next to the
Prytcmeion, now the town hail, is in a good state of preservation.
It was built in 150 AD. by a rich Ephesian named Publius
Vedius Antoninus. It is semicircular and originally it was
certainly roofed over. Its capacity was around 1,500 people.
Like most theatres of antiquity it had a cavea, stage and
orchestra. The podium was made of marble as were the spectators'
benches. The audience entered through two paradoi, one at
either side, or by stairs leading to the paradoi. The Odeum
was not only used for dramatic performances and musical
concerts but it was also the meeting place (buleuterio)
for city representatives from the BuZe. The ruins that can
be seen by the eastern side of the theatre are the Baths
of Varius, probably privately owned, dating from the second
century A.D.
- The Large Theatre is Ephesus' most picturesque monu-ment,
its elevated position dominates the entire valley and it
could seat over 20.000 people on sixty-six rows of steps.
It was built by the Romans in the first century A.D.on the
remains of a Greek theatre during the reign of Claudius
and it was modified under Nero. Like all theatres it had
a cavea (one hundred and fifty four metres in diameter),
orchestra (thirty-four metres in diameter), and stage (eighteen
metres high). If the Buletos met in the Odeum, this was
the meeting place for the Demos, the peoples' assembly of
male citizens. It was in this great theatre that Ephesian
silversmiths who worshipped the Goddess Artemis revolted
against St Paul and his followers, forcing them to leave
Ephesus. The theatre's facade was ornate: there were three
rows of columns with niches and statues and the galleried
entrances to the theatre are still visible today. Not far
from the Odeon are the remains of the monu-ment to Memmius,
commissioned by Augustus in the I century B.C. to honour
Cornelius Siila's grandchild.
- Hadrian's Temple, in the Corinthian style, was built along
the Street of the Curetes in 138 A.D. and was restored by
Austrian archaeologists. It is one of Ephesus' most attractive
and elegant monuments. The four Corinthian columns in the
centre support a finely decorated pediment in the centre
of which is an elegant female bust: Tyche, the goddess who
was the guardian of the city. Above the temple door leading
to the celia there is a highly decorated tympanum with a
sculpture representing Medusa. On the facade, in front of
the columns, four statue bases have survived with the inscriptions
of the names of four emperors: Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius
and Constantius Chlorus. In the cella there is a plinth
that at one time supported a statue of Hadrian. On an architrave
there is an inscription that the temple was dedicated to
the Emperor "Divo Adriano" by P Quintilius.The
Dwellings on the Slope, also called the Slope Palaces, were
luxurious houses of the rich. They were built on the slopes
of Mount Phion and they have an unusual structure as the
roof of each house forms the terrace of the next. Almost
all of them had three storeys and they were constructed
around a peristyle (a courtyard with a columned portico),
with a central fountain. The floors were paved with mosaics
and almost all the walls frescoed with scenes from mythology.
Two of these can be seen, one next to the other, which have
been completely restored. The first house dates from the
first century A.D. as does the second which has two peristyles
and which was restored and modified up to the seventh century.
Continuing along the street of the Curetes, behind the Baths
of Scholasticia, there is a further house with an atrium,
which was a Brothel. Nothing remains of the first floor,
but on the ground floor some of the walls have retained
their frescoes.
- This is an important church for Christians because it
was the first church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The Ecumenical Council convened by Theodosius II proclaiming
the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in 431 A.D.
was also held in this basilica.
- The Church of the Virgin or the Basilica of the Council
was erected in the fourth century using the foundations
of a second century B.C. basilica structure called the Museion.
Three naves with columns and balustas were added together
with a circular baptistery with a central font. Some of
the floor slabs bear inscriptions and others are decorated.
The marble omphalon, in the centre of the Church, was brought
from the Baths of the Port.
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