According to legend, the founder of Ephesus was Androklos, one of the sons of King Kodros, but Carians are known to have inhabited the area earlier, as at other Ionian sites. The city was colonized by the 10th century BC.
The settlements of today were built in 300 BC during the era of Alexander the Great.
The first monumental temple in the world built entirely of marble—the Artemision—was erected shortly before the middle of the 6th century BC. It was 55 x 115 meters in size—a magnificent edifice with 127 impressive columns, regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Greeks found that the mother goddess Cybele (or Kybele) held sway as the chief deity, as in almost every part of Anatolia. The goddess was later known as Artemis.
The original settlement of Ephesus is thought to have been established 1,200 meters west of the Artemision. After the death of Alexander the Great, Ephesus—and all of Ionia—fell into the hands of Lysimachus. During the Hellenistic period, the city was under the control of the Seleucids for 60 years. In 190 BC, the city was governed by the Pergamum kingdom.
During the era of Aristeides, who lived in Circa around AD 150, Ephesus was the most prosperous commercial center in the region and controlled the banking affairs of the whole of western Anatolia. After a period famous in ancient history for strife and upheaval during the 3rd century AD, Ephesus entered a third golden age during the Justinian era. With the rapid expansion of Christianity, many important monuments were erected in the city, such as the castle of Ayasoluk and the Church of St. John.
Ephesus enjoyed a further period of prosperity during the Seljuk era (14th century). Under the Ottomans, the city gradually declined and was eventually abandoned.
British archaeologists undertook the first excavations at Ephesus in 1868 at the Temple of Artemis. They proved the existence of three building phases beneath the ancient Artemision. The fragments that remain of these wonderful monuments are preserved in the museums of London, Berlin, Istanbul, Izmir, and Ephesus.
Excavations have been carried out at Ephesus for over 100 years. Renovations of the Celsus Library have been completed.
The Ephesus Museum in modern-day Selçuk is one of the finest local museums in Turkey. The majority of finds uncovered before World War I were conveyed to the museum in Vienna. All statues discovered after World War II, including Mycenaean vases found on Ayasoluk Hill, fragments from the Artemision, the sarcophagus and Corinthian columns from the Belevi Mausoleum, the Temple of Domitian, two statues of Artemis, and various statues from different monuments, are on display in the museum in Selçuk.
Ephesus is an extensive ancient city spanning 8 kilometers, divided into four main zones: Ayasoluk Hill, Artemision, Ephesus, and Selçuk.
Besides the Temple of Artemis and Celsus Library, the Virgin Mary Church in Bülbüldağı, Seven Sleepers Cave, and Isa Bey Mosque are worth visiting. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary spent her final years in Ephesus with St. John. This house is believed to have been Mary's last home and is now a popular place for Catholic pilgrimage, having been visited by the Pope.