Faith and mythology
Basilica of St John
Key answer
The Basilica of St John stands on the Ayasuluk hill above Selcuk, a separate site from the excavated city of Ephesus. Its ruins are those of a large Byzantine church built over a tomb that Christian tradition identifies as the burial place of John the Apostle.
Historical Evidence
What survives on the hill
The site preserves the plan of a very large cross-shaped basilica with brick and stone walls, column bases, marble paving, a baptistery and a raised platform over a tomb chamber. Parts have been re-erected in modern conservation work, which is visible in the masonry.
The church stands inside the fortified Ayasuluk enclosure, together with later Byzantine and Turkish-period defences, and it is a separate ticketed site from the archaeological city of Ephesus.
Tradition
The tomb tradition
Christian tradition holds that John the Apostle lived his last years at Ephesus and was buried on this hill, and the basilica was built to enclose and honour that tomb. The church's monumental scale reflects how important that tradition was to the Byzantine city.
The tomb identification is transmitted tradition, not an archaeological identification. The building is evidence of what was believed and how it was honoured; it is not proof of who lies beneath it.
Belief
The site as a place of faith today
Visitors still come to the basilica as pilgrims as well as sightseers, and many pray at the tomb platform. Respecting that use — quiet at the tomb, care around groups at prayer — costs nothing and is part of visiting well.
Common questions
On the Ayasuluk hill in Selcuk, above the town centre and a short drive from the archaeological site of Ephesus. It is a separate site with its own entrance.
Christian tradition identifies the tomb beneath the basilica as the apostle's burial place. That is a tradition carried by the church and its pilgrims, not something archaeology has confirmed.