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Mr Ephesus

Faith & Mythology

Faith and Mythology at Ephesus

At Ephesus, sacred stories overlap without becoming the same kind of evidence. The Temple of Artemis is an archaeological and historical monument. Acts and Revelation are ancient Christian texts that name the city. The burial of St John at Ayasuluk is a long-standing tradition embodied in a monumental basilica. The Seven Sleepers story belongs to a family of Christian and Islamic traditions attached to more than one place.

8 guides to faith and legend

A paved ancient street at Ephesus lined with column fragments, leading toward the Library of Celsus.

Texts and the early church

What the ancient texts record, and the churches later built at Ephesus.

  • Acts and Paul

    St Paul in Ephesus

    What the New Testament says about Paul's years in Ephesus, the silversmiths' disturbance in the theatre, and how to tell the textual record apart from the traditions attached to the site.

  • Letters and community

    Ephesians and the Early Church

    Why Ephesus mattered to the early Christian church: the letter to the Ephesians, the city's role as a hub of the eastern Mediterranean, and the councils and churches that followed.

  • Council and church

    Church of Mary at Ephesus

    The Church of Mary inside the archaeological site of Ephesus: the long ruined basilica beside the harbour road, its association with the Council of Ephesus, and how it differs from the House of the Virgin Mary.

St John and Ayasuluk

The tradition attached to the apostle, and the monument on the Ayasuluk hill.

  • Text and tradition

    St John in Ephesus

    The traditions that connect John the Apostle with Ephesus, the basilica built over the tomb attributed to him, and a clear line between what is recorded, what is tradition and what is belief.

  • Monument and burial tradition

    Basilica of St John

    The Basilica of St John on the Ayasuluk hill at Selcuk: what survives of the Byzantine church, the tradition that places the apostle's tomb beneath it, and how the site relates to the archaeological city of Ephesus.

Tradition, revelation and myth

Where documented archaeology, ancient text and later legend are kept apart.

  • Revelation

    The Seven Churches of Revelation

    The seven churches of Revelation in western Turkey, with Ephesus first among them: which cities they were, what survives at each, and how they relate to a visit based around Ephesus.

  • Shared tradition

    The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

    The legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in Christian and Islamic tradition, the cave site on the slope of Panayirdag, and what is archaeology as against story.

  • Legend and evidence

    Legends and Mythology of Ephesus

    The myths Ephesus told about itself: Artemis and her great sanctuary, the Amazons, the foundation story of Androklos, and how ancient legend sits alongside the archaeology of the site.

Official sources

Current visitor information — opening hours, tickets and closures — is published by the site authorities, not by us.

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