"Efes/Ephesus" a Ephesus Travel Page by JLBG

Ephesus is the Latin name, used in English, of the ancient city named Apasa by the Hittites, Ephesos by the ancient Greeks and now Efes by the Turks. It stands in south-western Turkey, near Selçuk and Kusadasi, in Ionia, at the bottom of a wide bay framed by the Greek islands of Chios (north) and Samos (south).

It was one of the oldest and most important Greek cities of Asia Minor. During the Antiquity, it was a major harbor, but as the coastline was silting up with the sediments of river Caystre, it was shifted several times to follow the open sea. It was also hit by several major earthquakes. The city, now 7 kilometers inland, was finally abandoned.

The site of Ephesus has been inscribed in 1994 on the Unesco World Heritage tentative list. The site is one of the most visited in Turkey with over 2 millions visitors yearly. Most of what we can see to day dates back from the Roman period. Only a small part of the city (10%) has been dug out.

2000 BC, the Hittite city of Apasas (meaning city of the bee goddess) was already mentioned.
The growth of Ephesus dates back from 1000 BC, when the Ionians settled. It soon became the wealthiest and the most powerful among the12 cities of the Ionian confederation. In 560 BC, Cresus took it and built the temple of Artemis, listed among the seven wonders of the world.

When Ephesus became part of the Roman province of Asia Minor, in 129 BC, it had 200,000 inhabitants. In 25 BC, Augustus makes it the capital of the Asia minor province instead of Pergame. It soon became the third harbor of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria.