The ancient city of Ephesus is only 3 km from Selçuk. It was prosperous already in the -7th century and passed through many hands before being captured by Alexander the Great in -343. It was destroyed by the Goths in 262, so most of the buildings are in sad shape. Still, walking through and looking at it took us 3 hours and gave a vivid impression of how large and important it once was.
1Ephesus Entering, as most people do, from the uphill end, one sees ruins of the smaller theater, the Odeon, which was originally covered.
2Ephesus Swedish tourist in Ephesus
3Ephesus The Odeon, built in 150, held about 1500 people
4Ephesus The Odeon
5Ephesus The Odeon
6Ephesus American tourist at the Odeon
7Ephesus Nice arch
8Ephesus View down the hill towards the facade of the library
9Ephesus Remains of the 1st-century Temple of Domitian
10Ephesus Remains of a decorated arch
11Ephesus Curetes Street is a wide thoroughfare. It was nice of the builders to think of all the people who would be visiting 2000 years later!
12Ephesus Fountain of Trajan
13Ephesus Mosaics and cat
14Ephesus View from the Scholastika Baths toward the library, To the right, columns line Marble Street.
15Ephesus Beautiful mosaics
16Ephesus There are lots of cats in Ephesus
17Ephesus Comfort, relaxing in the sun's warmth
18Ephesus Tourist at the terrace houses, homes to the rich
19Ephesus Excavation and reconstruction are currently under way
20Ephesus Here one can see how rooms were positioned around a central court
21Ephesus Lovely wall painting from almost 2000 years ago!
22Ephesus Floor mosaic of a lion
23Ephesus Marble Street
24Ephesus The so-called library was actually built in 120 as a tomb for Julius Celsus Polemaeanus
25Ephesus Facade of the library, with intricate decorations
26Ephesus The library was only found by excavators in 1904 and has since been partially restored
27Ephesus Can't figure out what this graceful arch is
28Ephesus View across the columns of the mercantile agora to the library. The agora was built in the -3rd century.
29Ephesus The grand theater was first built in the -3rd century and later enlarged to hold 24000 people.
30Ephesus Harbour Street ran from the grand theater down to the harbor, which has since receded
