Ephesus

Ephesus(Ancient Greek:Ἔφεσος;Turkish:Efes) was an ancient Greek city on the west coast ofAnatolia,now inTurkey.It was one of the twelve cities of theIonian League.The ApostlePaulis said to have addressed anepistleto the Christians of the city., and it is now known as theEpistle to the Ephesiansin theNew Testament.The site still possesses many well preserved Roman ruins side by side with rich history.

Most significant are theodeon,used as aconcert halland city council with the capacity of 1.500 people, Temple ofHadriandating back to the second century where one of the best sculpture craftsmanship can be seen, Curettes Street hosting many monuments and countless colums on the sides of its marble paved ground, a fountain dedicated to EmperorTrajanwhere a part of a remaining statue shows us that Romans knew the round shape of the world in the first century AD, and latrines (toilets) where it can be seen how they cared about public sanity.

Two other of Ephesus's outstanding monuments hold importance not just for their home city also for world's cultural and architectural heritage. The first one is the library of Celsus which is located at the end of the Curettes Street. The library looks like a two storeyed building seen from the facade but as we know it former had three stories inside. The facade shows a rare found craftsmanship. Also the library was the third biggest library of the ancient world, after the libraries ofAlexandriaandPergamon.Anyone who stands in front of this monumental building can understand why did it take twenty years (115 AD to 135 AD) to complete it.

The second one is Ephesus' grand theatre which had the capacity of 25.000 spectators. It was not just a place of art also as we know it was used for animal andgladiatorfights. With its great dimensions it makes one think about how small my moment in time really is. It's one of the sacred ruins of Ephesus, according to the Acts of the Apostles (19:23-41), the theater was the site of the "riot of the silversmiths" in which those who made silver figures ofArtemisthe pagan godess of the city rioted because Paul's preaching was bad for business. In the 1st century AD, the Apostle Paul spent over three years in Ephesus and he sermonized many times, disapproving pagan worship, in this theater.