The Ephesus Museum and other Ephesus, Turkey Things to Do Tips

I highly recommend that before you set out for site of Ephesus that you visit this museum in nearby Selcuk first. The Ephesus Museum features an amazing collection of artefacts gathered from the site. It also provides you with a historical background on the history of Ephesus.
Pictured here is the statue of Cybele or Artemis. The question is, are those rows of breasts hanging of her chest or rows of severed testicles? Anyway they are both objects of fertility and it is one of the highlights of the museum. Other important artefacts are the bronze statue of Eros With The Dolphin and the statues of a headless Aphrodite and bodies Zues.
The Ephesus Museum is not very large and can be visited in about a hours time. It is open daily from 8:30am to noon and 12:30pm to 4:30pm. Admission is about $4.00.

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Phone: 0232/892-6010
Directions: It is located on the edge of the park near the intersection of Ataturk Cad.

Harbour Street is exactly as what it sounds, the main avenue that lead down to the harbour of Ephesus. This is now dry and actually leads to nowhere. The street is bordered by high columns. During the times of the Byzantines, Harbour Street was lined with gaslit lamps. For reasons I am not aware of this street was chained off during my visit.

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The Library of Celsus is considered to be the most spectacular of the many ruins at Ephesus. It was built in the 2nd Century A.D. by Consul Tiberius Julius Aquilus in honour of his father Celsus Polemaeanus, the Roman Govenor of Asia Minor. The library at one time contained 12,000 scrolls. The Library is famed for its facade. It features four statues representing the four virtues, goodness, thought, knowledge and wisdom.

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The Gate of Augustus is the entry point into the Agora. It is also known as the Mazaeus-Mithridates Gate, named after its builders,two freed slaves who dedicated the gate to Augustus, who was their master. The gate consists of three archways that lead into the agora, a common meeting place for the local civilians. Apparently during Ephesus hayday, it was common for lesser individuals to urinate upon the archway. There is actually graffiti carved into one of the archways honouring this fact. Like the Library of Celsus, the gateway has recently been rebuilt and it is claimed that it is earthquake proof.

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Directions: The Gate of Augustus is located on the southwest corner of the Library of Celsus.

The Odeon is a small theatre that sit at the top of the Cuertes Way. It was built by commission by Publius Vedius Antoninus and his wife Flavia Papiana, two wealthy citizens of Ephesus, in the 2nd century AD.
The Odeon was used for state assemblies and for small theatre productions. Apparently it was completely enclosed and sat over 1450 persons.
I hit the Odeon at the height of the tourist traffic. It was teaming with tour groups who were constantly getting the way of photo shots.

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The Square of Domitianus is a mass of ruined temples and gateways that sites on the Southeast quadrant of Ephesus. Among the most important features of the square are the remains of a fountain with its large arch which used to be the entrance. The fountain was built in 93 A.D. by C. Atilius in the name of C.Sextilius Pollia. During the Roman period this square would have been filled with shops.
Most of the statues that at onetime stood here are now located in the Ephesus museum.

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The Gates of Hercules sit at the top of the Curetes Way. They feature two very well preserved marble reliefs with Hercules drapped in lion's skin. The Gates of Hercules was constructed in the 4th century A.D. The gateway at onetime stood two stories high but little of it is preserved today.

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Hadrian's Temple is one of the most popular of the ruins located in Ephesus. In fact it is one of the most famous images of Turkey, often being reproduced in travel brocheres. The temple was built in the 2nd century A.D. in the Corinthian style. It consists of a cella and a porch. The facade of the porch is supported by two piers and two columns with an arch at the centre top. Although you can not see it here because of the shadow, there is a relief of Tyche at the keystone of the arch. However you can see the image of the Medusa beyond the facade in the lunette over the entrance to the cella. There are many other quality friezes within the temple that are worth seeing. In fact it is here that I seemed to find the most crowded section of Ephesus.

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The Grand Theatre is one of the most spectacular monuments in Ephesus. It is dramatically set against the slopes of Mt. Pion. Apparently it took sixty years to excavate and then construct the theatre. When completed it could seat 25,000 people. The theatre was originally built during Hellenistic times but had been restored, rebuilt and expanded many times since most notably during the Roman reign of Claudius. Supposedly St. Paul gave a sermon from the proscenium. I recommend that you climb to the top of the theatre and take in the marvelous views of Ephesus that can be seen from here.

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