Ephesus: Stunning Architecture from 7 BC

History and Significance

Ephesus (Efes in Turkish) derived from the Hittite Apasa, was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia. It was amongst the 12 cities of the Ionian league – a confederation of Greek cities formed during the mid 7th century BC. Ephesus flourished and gained prominence after it came under Roman Republic in 129BC.

Temple of Artemis (dated 550 BC) in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World.

How To Reach

Depending on where are you flying or driving from it can take 1hr or 3hrs. The most common routes are a drive from Denizli (3hrs) to Kusadasi/ Ephesus and a flight out from Izmir. Denizli is the town next door to Pamukkale and a lot of tourist packages design it such that they fly to Denizli, visit Pamukkale and the next day drive to Kusadasi/Ephesus; Visit Ephesus during the day and fly out of Izmir to Istanbul or Cappadocia (in the tourist circuit).

The other option is to make Izmir the base (which we did) as it’s the third largest city in Turkey so getting supplies for children is easier and getting a good quality rental car is not an issue either.

It is a 1hr drive from Izmir and the road is primarily a 4 lane highway. When driving to the site, google maps will show Ephesus archaeology museum when you type Ephesus which is not where the actual site is. The museum has some remains from the site and has the same opening hours as the actual site itself. For navigation to the actual site, you will have to put Celsus library, Ephesus in google maps. It will directly take you to the South Gate

The museum takes about 30min to visit and you can keep that for later. You can even give it a miss if you are in a rush. Unlike what some people believe and might mention on their blogs, google maps works perfectly fine and fairly accurately in Turkey

Opening Hours 

8am to 7:30pm in summers and till 6pm in winters

Things to Note

• The entire walk both sides in Ephesus can be daunting with small children. If you have rented a car, best way could be to park your car in the South Gate or the bottom gate, take a yellow cab which primarily transports tourists from one gate to another for about 25 Turkish lira, to go to the North gate. From North gate you can walk one way downwards so it’s not a tiring walk and since it’s just one way with a lot of stops and shaded areas in between, it’s manageable with kids (5yrs below in a stroller and 5yrs above with average physical fitness can walk).
• Most of the way is stroller friendly except if you want to climb up the stairs in grand theatre (amphitheatre) or visit the terrace houses which are completely stairs based
• For visiting all the key places along with the main Ephesus archaeological site with a guide or an audio guide you will need at least 3-4 hrs
• Many guides don’t know English and also charge upwards of 30Euro while an audio guide with fairly detailed information on all the sites is available for 15 Turkish lira only. Even if you have to take 2 or 3, it’s a better idea. The sound quality of audio guides across Turkey is pretty good and that is what we resorted to at all the museums and places of interest. The only place where we took a guide was Kayamakli Underground City in Cappadocia (2 days in Cappadocia link) as there was no provision of an audio guide and very limited information was available despite it being a world heritage site.
• In summers it can be really hot so make sure to use generous amounts of sunscreen and carry a sun hat. Keeping yourself hydrated is also essential so make sure to carry some supplies. Also with kids I always prefer to carry some snacks and packaged flavoured milk with me at all times as they can feel hungry at absolutely anytime.
• Outside both the gates, there are a lot of shops for souvenirs and food (read fresh juice, ice cream and other snacks items like simit)

What to see 

Apart from the most famous structure in Ephesus, the Celsus library, there are many other areas of interest that I have detailed here:

• The Bouleuterion:  Housed the council meetings and musical performances in early 130 AD.
• Prytaneum: Erected as an office of the city’s leading government dignitaries. Main room was used for public banquets. Center of the room was used as a sacred altar for Goddess Hestia.
• Fountain and Temple of Domitian: Dedicated to Emperor Domitian, it has almost completely disappeared by now after having torn down to its foundations. The fountain of Domitian was constructed to the south of the Pollio Monument.  

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• Heracles Gate: Bordered the Curetes Street on the east. Both pillars decorated with representations of Heracles narrowed the pathway to block the entry of wagon traffic
• Curetes Street: The main walkway flanked by all the key architectural buldings
• Alytarch’s Stoa: A wide hall dated to 4th/5th century AD built along the Curetes Street. It is built over a 2.5mtr level floor difference via the steps.

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• Terrace houses: There are available for the tourists to see at an extra charge. There are three sets of Terrace Houses and we saw the second one. These multi stories dwelling units were built during early Roman imperial period and are characterized by a courtyard and richly decorated dwelling units. Use of mosaic as floor embellishment and giving the view of almost rugs. A series of earthquakes in the 3rd century AD put an end of dwellings in Ephesus.

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• Heroon of Androclos: Also known as the Byzantine Fountain, this monument may have originally been erected in the honor or Androclos, the mythical founder of this city during the 1st Century BC
• Celsus library: This is the most well known structure in Ephesus. Built between 100 AD and 110 AD, it is usually interpreted as a heroon (a shrine dedicated to a Greek God or Roman hero) built over a burial chamber. Buinding’s interior is brick construction in contrast to the aediculated architecture of the facade and marble revetted walls and floors.
• Grand theatre: This grand amphitheater dates back to a preceding structure of the Hellenistic period (3rd to 1st Century BC). Used for theater performances, assemblies and gladiatorial contests in the later part of the Roman era.

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The other important sites close to Ephesus are:

• Temple of Artemis: One of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. It is interesting to note how Artemis was considered much more important than hydra the Greek goddess of the hearth as the former was daughter of Zeus, goddess of victory. So while there is a whole temple dedicated to Artemis, there is none to Hydra.

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