"Ephesus" Ephesus by miman

Ephesus was one of the great cities of the Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor, located in Lydia where the Cayster river flows into the Aegean Sea (in modern day Turkey). It was founded by colonists principally from Athens. The ruins of Ephesus are a major tourist attraction, especially for people travelling to Turkey by cruise ship via the port of Kuşadası. In modern times, the Turkish government has sought to give credit to Turkey for this architectural treasure.
The many-breasted "Lady of Ephesus", identified by Greeks with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, the largest building of the ancient world, according to Pausanias and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, of which scarcely a trace remains
The city bore the title of "the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." It was distinguished for the Temple of Artemis (Diana), who had her chief shrine there, for its library, and for its theatre, which would have been capable of holding 25,000 spectators.

House of Virgin Mary

The House of the Virgin Mary is a Christian shrine located in the vicinity of Ephesus, Turkey (7 km from Selçuk). It is believed by many Christians and Muslims that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John after the crucifixion of Jesus, and lived there until her assumption into Heaven according to Roman Catholics. Other Christian denominations recognize this spot as her burial place.

Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German nun, claimed to have had a vision of the House of the Virgin Mary and described it in detail to the German writer Clemens Brentano who later published a book about it. In 1891 Paul, Superior of the Lazarists from Izmir read about her vision and found a little building which corresponded with Emmerich’s descriptions.

This place was officially declared a shrine of the Roman Catholic Church in 1896, and is visited by thousands of tourists every year since then. It maintains its holiness for the Muslims as well as for the Christian world. People believing in the godly qualities of the Virgin Mary come here and drink from the water believed to be sacred.