EPHESUS

According to tradition, Efes (Ephesus), one of the most important cities of antiquity, was founded by Androclos, although it has been established that the Lelegians and Carians inhabited the place earlier. The city must have been colonized no later than the 10th century B.C., by the lonians. Then Persian invasion in the 6th century B.C. took place. As you can see Ephesus History goes way back. This was followed by Ionian uprising against the Persians during the 5th century B.C. The ruins remaining are of the city established by Lyssimachos, one of the generals of Alexander the Great in the 3rd century B.C. The best remains of the city ramparts today are from this era. During its Golden Age (2nd century B.C.), the city had a population of around 300,000; it monopolized the wealth of the Middle East and was one of the principal ports of the Mediterranean. Finally, the Roman and Byzantine Empires took control of the city. When the Seljuks and later Ottomans claimed the control of the city, it had already lost its commercial and political significance. Today, a visit to Ephesus is one of the highlights of any visit to Turkey.


Visits to the ruins of Efes usually begin in the eastern part of the city through the Magnesia Gate, around the important Upper Agora or also known as the State Agora. The Eastern Gymnasium is located just next to the Magnesia Gate on the Pion mountain side. Clustered around the State Agora were the Varius Baths and the Odeion, both from the 2nd century A.D., the Prythaneion or Town Hall, and the Temple of Domitian - the first temple of Efes to be built in the name of an emperor (81 - 96A.D.) - located next to the Domitian Square. The Temple of Dea Roma was located right next to the Odeion.

Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis (Greek: Ἀρτεμίσιον, or Artemision), also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to a goddess Greeks identified as Artemis and was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was situated at Ephesus (near the modern town of Selçuk in present-day Turkey), and was completely rebuilt three times before its eventual destruction in 401.[1] Only foundations and sculptural fragments of the latest of the temples at the site remain.
The first sanctuary (temenos) antedated the Ionic immigration by many years, and dates to the Bronze Age. Callimachus, in his Hymn to Artemis, attributed it to the Amazons. In the seventh century the old temple was destroyed by a flood. Its reconstruction began around 550 BC, under the Cretan architect Chersiphron and his son Metagenes, at the expense of Croesus of Lydia: the project took 10 years to complete, only to be destroyed in an act of arson by a young arsonist seeking fame named Herostratus. It was later rebuilt.
Antipater of Sidon, who compiled the list of the Seven Wonders, describes the finished temple:
I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand".
 House of the Virgin Mary "Mother Mary's House") is a Christian and Muslim shrine located on Mt. Koressos (Turkish: Bülbüldağı, "Mount Nightingale") in the vicinity of Ephesus, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from Selçuk in Turkey
The house was discovered in the 19th century by following the descriptions in the reported visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich which were published as a book.
Pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John and lived there until her Assumption (according to Catholic doctrine), or Dormition (according to Orthodox belief).