The priests of Artemis at Ephesus were led by a high priest called the Megabyzos, with Essenes and virgin priestesses beside him. Persian traces in the cult, the priestesses of Roman times and Aristarche, who took Artemis to Marseille.
Mazaeus and Mithridates were two freed slaves who paid for the triple gate beside the Library of Celsus in Ephesus: who they were, what the inscription says and where you see the gate today.
Who lived in the Terrace Houses of Ephesus? Rich families, among them the Dionysus priest Furius Aptus, and what their homes had: marble halls, household shrines, running water, costly red paint and glass windows.
Did Mary live in Ephesus? A licensed guide from Kuşadası weighs the evidence: the promise from the cross in John 19, John's years in Ephesus, the older Jerusalem tomb tradition, the unfinished sentence of the Council of 431, the archaeology of the house and the local tradition of Şirince.
Ancient amulets of Ephesus: the phallus charm, bronze bells, the evil eye, the bee of Artemis and the Ephesian Letters, and what you can still see in the Ephesus Museum.
How did ordinary Christians live in the seven cities of Revelation? A licensed guide separates evidence from imagination: who they were, where the house churches met, what they ate, how they handled pagan banquets and what happened when a neighbor denounced them.
The two 19th-century churches of Şirince, Saint John the Baptist (1805) and Saint Demetrius: when they were built, the restoration, what you see today, and the village's houses and fruit wine, 8 km from Selçuk.
Seven tombs of saints you can still visit in Turkey: Apostle John in Selçuk, Apostle Philip in Hierapolis, Saint Nicholas in Demre, Timothy, Polycarp, the Seven Sleepers and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. What is really there, what is only tradition and what you see today, from a licensed guide in Kuşadası.
The Belevi Mausoleum is a huge Hellenistic tomb about 14 kilometers from Selçuk, the second largest in Anatolia after Halicarnassus. Who was probably buried in it, what it looked like, the Belevi Tumulus nearby, and how to see it today.
Where the Seven Churches of Revelation are today: the modern name of each city, its province, road distances from İzmir and Selçuk, what you can see at each site and short 2 to 4 day plans. Practical notes from a licensed guide; you arrange your own transport and hotels.
Seven famous Christian women in history who lived, taught or ruled in Asia Minor: Mary in Ephesus, Lydia of Thyatira, Priscilla, Thecla, Macrina the Younger, Empress Helena and Empress Irene, from the first century to the eighth. From a licensed guide in Ephesus.
How the imperial cult in Asia Minor worked, from the first temple of Roma and Augustus at Pergamon to the Temple of the Sebastoi in Ephesus, what neokoros meant, the debate about Domitian and why the early Christians of the Seven Churches refused. From a licensed guide in Ephesus.
The East Gymnasium of Ephesus is a 2nd-century Roman bath and exercise complex next to the Magnesian Gate, one of four bath-gymnasiums of the city. What it was, who probably paid for it, and what you can see today.
Seven early church heresies that shook Asia Minor, from Marcion of Sinope and the Montanists of Phrygia to Arius, Nestorius, Eutyches, the iconoclasts and the Paulicians, and the places in Turkey where their stories happened, from a licensed guide in Ephesus.
The church of Ephesus grew from a house church of Priscilla and Aquila into the mother church of Asia. Its founders, Timothy and John, Ignatius' letter, the councils of 431 and 449 and the ruins you can visit today, from a licensed guide in Ephesus.
Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor of Bithynia and Pontus, wrote to Emperor Trajan about the Christians around 110 AD. His life, his Vesuvius letters, how he differs from Pliny the Elder, and the places in his letters you can still visit in Turkey, from a licensed guide in Ephesus.
How did Timothy die? Paul's companion and the first bishop of Ephesus was, by tradition, killed at the masked Katagogia festival around 97 AD. His life, the Acts of Timothy, the festival of Dionysus, his relics and the places you can still see in Ephesus.
Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon: all seven ecumenical councils met in what is Turkey today. What each council decided, where it really met, and what you can still see there, from a licensed guide in Ephesus.
Shakespeare's shortest play happens in Ephesus in one day. Why he moved it here from Plautus's Epidamnus, and which real Ephesian stories, from Acts 19 to Diana's temple, live inside it.
My Ephesus self-guided walking tour, eight stops from the Odeon to Harbor Street, is now a free guide plan in Navly on Apple Maps. Open it on iPhone or in any browser.
Ephesus works well with kids if you plan around the summer heat, the slippery marble and the 2 kilometers between the two gates.
Ephesus is beside Selçuk town: about an hour from İzmir Airport by train or car, 30 minutes from Kuşadası, and a short flight plus a drive from Istanbul.
Ephesus upper gate or lower gate? Most guided tours start at the upper gate, because the whole route then runs downhill and ends at the lower gate about…
How long do you need at Ephesus? Plan two to four hours inside the ancient city. The classic downhill walk from the Upper Gate to the Lower Gate…
Do you need a guide at Ephesus? No. Anyone with a ticket can walk the site alone, and the main monuments have signs in Turkish and English. A…
A footprint, a woman's head and a purse cut into the marble beside the Library of Celsus. What the carvings really mean, whether there was a brothel, and the truth about that secret tunnel.
How to get from the Kusadasi cruise port to Ephesus: the distance, the time you need, four ways to go, and a Christian cruise day with the House of the Virgin Mary and Saint John.
The Ephesus entry ticket price is €40 per adult in 2026, charged in Turkish lira at the daily rate. It covers the ancient city and the Ephesus Experience…
Almost a decade of Paul's life belongs to this coast. Let me walk you through Paul's second visit to Asia Minor — the redirects, the Ephesus years, and the goodbye at Miletus.
After twenty years of guiding, here is the orientation I wish every first-time visitor had read on the flight over — my beginner's guide to Christian Turkey.
Ancient Smyrna sleeps under modern Izmir, and the region around it is packed with apostolic history. Here are my top 10 Christian sites in Izmir and nearby.
Nerva and Christianity: after Domitian was murdered in 96 AD, Nerva stopped the treason trials and the Jewish tax abuses. Did he persecute Christians? No.
How does an old man on a Roman prison island write one of the most complex books ever? Let me walk you through how John wrote Revelation on Patmos — cave, scribe, and all.
How the Library of Celsus in Ephesus was dug out in 1903 and 1904, rebuilt between 1970 and 1978, and repaired again in 2024.
The Nicolaitans were an early Christian group condemned in the letters to Ephesus and Pergamon in the Book of Revelation, and little is known about them for certain.
Prochorus was one of the seven deacons of Acts 6:5 and, by tradition, the scribe who wrote down John's words on Patmos.
Gaius of Ephesus was a companion of Paul who was dragged into the Great Theater during the riot of the silversmiths, and one of several men named Gaius in the New Testament.
Ignatius of Antioch wrote seven letters at Smyrna and Troas while Roman soldiers took him to die in Rome: to Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna and Polycarp. A licensed guide from Kuşadası tells their story, the first "catholic church" and what survives of them.
Nestorius of Constantinople was the patriarch whose teaching about Mary was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and whose followers formed the Church of the East.
Two emperors named Theodosius shaped Ephesus: the grandfather ended the old temple worship by law, and his grandson called the Council of 431.
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In the hot summer of 431, two hundred bishops gathered in Ephesus and named Mary Theotokos. Let me walk you through the Council of Ephesus, and the church where it all happened.
By Hasan Gülday — Licensed Professional Tour Guide, Smyrna / Ephesus / Kusadasi When my pilgrim guests walk with me through the marble streets of Ephesus, or stand…
Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, disciple of the Apostle John and bishop of ancient İzmir, was burned in the stadium of his city. The full story of his arrest, trial and martyrdom from the Martyrdom of Polycarp, and where to remember him in İzmir today, from a licensed local guide.
The story of the early Christian martyrs is rarely as simple as it sounds. Let me walk you through the real persecution of early Christians in Asia Minor — site by site.
Why these seven cities, and why in this order? The answer is a road. Let me walk you through the seven churches of Revelation, the way the first messenger did.
Cities visited by Apostle Paul in Turkey: 17 stops from Tarsus to Ephesus, Miletus and Myra, and the ruins you can still stand in today.
Who was Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus? Meet the Greek-born Roman senator and proconsul of Asia for whom the Library of Celsus in Ephesus was built.
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Ten short stories set the real Library of Celsus in Ephesus inside worlds like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Dune, each with its own picture.
