İzmir Ephesus

The History of Ephesus

The first establishment of the city of Ephesus goes back to 6000 BC. During the recent researches and excavations, some settlements belonging to the Bronze Ages and Hittites were identified in the mounds around Ephesus and Ayasoluk Hill, where the fortress is located. The name of the city during the Hittite period was Apasas. Ephesus, a port city where immigrants from Greece started to live in around 1050 BC, was moved around the Temple of Artemis in 560 BC. Ephesus was founded here by Lysimachus, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, in 300s BC. Having its most magnificent times during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, the city had a population of 200,000 people as being the capital of the Asian province and the  biggest port city.

Temple of Hadrian

It was built in the name of Emperor Hadrian in 118-138 AD by P.Quintilis as a memorial temple inside the Varius Thermae complex, facing Kuretler Street. It has Corinthian style. Its pediment includes the relief of Tyche, the Goddess of City and Luck. The originals of the friezes depicting the establishment legend of Ephesus are exhibited in the Ephesus Museum . The inscripted statue pedestals in front of the columns belong to the bronze statues pedestals in front of the columns belong to the bronze statues of Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius.

Terrace Houses

The wealthy people of  the city lived in the houses built on terraces on the slopes of Bülbül Mountain. The houses that were built around an open peristillium courtyard consisted of two floors. The houses, the first construction date of which was identified as the 1st century AD, were used in the following years with various additional modifications until the city was finally abandoned. The floors of the houses are decorated with mosaics and the walls are decorated with marble and frescoes. The houses had fountains and underfloor heating systems.