According to Herodotus BC. While Carians and Lelegs, who boasted of being the oldest people of Anatolia, lived in the city in the 1st millennium BC, immigrants came from the west and established a colony here. Kybele, who was worshiped as the Mother Goddess, takes the name Ephesus Artemisi with the arrival of the colonists. The temple built in the name of Artemis was considered one of the seven wonders of the world at that time. The city belongs to the Cimmerians in the 7th century BC. In 560, it was attacked by the Lydians and soon after that by the Persians. He regains his freedom with Alexander the Great. When he came under the rule of Lysimachus after Alexander, this emperor re-established the city, whose ruins we see today, according to the “Grid Plan” found by Hippodamos of Miletus. According to this plan, all streets and streets in the city cross each other perpendicularly.

The city becomes the largest and richest metropolis of Asia in the Roman Period with sea and land trade. It is decorated with monumental structures made of marble on all sides. It is the first city made entirely of marble. B.C. In the 4th century, the trade regresses due to the filling of the port. Emperor Hadrian had the harbor cleaned several times. The port is filled with alluvium brought by the Marnas Stream and Küçük Menderes River coming from the north. Ephesus moves away from the sea. In the 7th century, Arabs attack these shores. Ephesus moves to Ayasuluk Hill because it is easier to defend. When the Turks come here in the 13th century, they find a small village in Ephesus. They reconstruct this place and equip every part of the city with Turkish structures such as mosques, inns and baths. Today, the city has two entrances. For an easy trip, you should enter the city from the “Magnesia Gate” (Upper Gate) on the way to the House of Virgin Mary. The “Eastern Gymnasium” is right next to the Magnesia Gate at the foot of the Panayır Mountain. When you enter through the upper door, the first monumental building is the “Odeion” and the adjacent “Varius Baths”. Ephesus has a two-house administration. The first of these, the Advisory Council, would hold its meetings here. For this reason, the building is also called “Bouleterion”. In front of the Odeion is the “Basilica”, which was built as a place (Stock Exchange) where commercial businesses are held. Next to it is the “Prytaneion (Town Hall)” with its thick columns. Prytan served as the mayor of the city. His biggest task was to ensure that the hearth, which had been burning for hundreds of years, did not go out. He had undertaken this in the name of Hestia, the goddess of the city. The Artemis sculptures exhibited in the Ephesus Museum were found during the Prytaneion excavation. The square in front of the Odeion is the “State Agora (Upper Agora)” of the city. In the middle of it was the Temple of the Egyptian Gods (Isis). M.S. The Monumental Fountain, built by Laecanus Bassus in 80, is located in the southwest corner of the State Agora. From here, you can reach the “Domitian Square” and structures such as the “Pollio Fountain”, “Domitian Temple”, “Memmius Monument” and “Heracles Gate” clustered around this square. The famous “Kuretler Street” extends west from the Upper Agora. As you move west from the street, the structures of interest are respectively the “Trajan Fountain”, the “Hadrian’s Temple” with its elegant façade and the “Skolasticia Baths”. Right next to the Temple of Hadrian, there are “Love House” and “Latrina (Toilets)”. There are “Hillside Houses” on the slopes to the left of the street. These houses, which are the most beautiful of the peristyle house type, were in the comfort of today’s modern houses. In all, the walls are covered with frescoes and the floors are covered with mosaics.