Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was among the largest buildings of the Greek world, dedicated to a goddess who combined Greek Artemis with an older Anatolian fertility deity. A first great temple, financed by the Lydian king Croesus in the sixth century BCE, was designed by the architects Chersiphron and Metagenes and adorned with carved column drums. It was burned in 356 BCE by a man seeking fame, a night said to coincide with the birth of Alexander the Great, and was rebuilt on a still grander scale. The later temple, with a forest of Ionic columns, was famed for its sculpture and treasuries and drew pilgrims and traders. Its decline came with the rise of Christianity and invasions in the third century CE; the site gradually silted up, and its marble was reused for churches and other buildings. Excavations in the nineteenth century, led by John Turtle Wood for the British Museum, located the foundations. Today the sanctuary lies in a quiet marshy field at the foot of Ayasuluk Hill, marked by a single column assembled from original drums, stone fragments and foundations. Nearby stand the Basilica of St John and İsa Bey Mosque. The nearby ancient city of Ephesus, a separate UNESCO World Heritage property, preserves Roman streets, theatre and the Library of Celsus. Visiting the temple site is brief but evocative, best paired with Ephesus and the museum in Selçuk, where artefacts are displayed.