Ruins of ancient Ephesus (photo gallery)
From the archive. Published July 19, 2018. Details may have changed since.
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01 The Library of Celsus was built in 114-117 AD by Consul Gaius Julius Aquila to honor his father Celsus, a Roman senator. © JD Lasica -
02 Stone carving of an angel at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
03 Four statues on the front side of the Library of Celsus depict Wisdom, Virtue, Intellect and Knowledge. © Special to Cruiseable -
04 Remants of an ionic column at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
05 Tourists make their way down the main walkway of Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
06 The Temple of Hadrian in Ephesus, built circa 135 A.D. to honor the Roman emperor Hadrian, who came to visit the city from Athens in 129 A.D. © Special to Cruiseable -
07 Ruins at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
08 Stone inscription at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
09 The Nymphaeum Traiani, an ancient fountain structure at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
10 Ruins at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
11 Ruins at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
12 Four statues on the front side of the Library of Celsus depict Wisdom, Virtue, Intellect and Knowledge. © Special to Cruiseable -
13 The Memmius Monument at Ephesus was built in the 1st century A.D by Memmius, grandson of dictator Sulla, who killed 80,000 Romans with his army. © Special to Cruiseable -
14 The Library of Celsus was completed in 135 AD as a mausoleum for Celsus, a Roman senator who was buried in a sarcophagus beneath the library's entrance. © Special to Cruiseable -
15 Remnants of columns at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
16 An ancient inscription at Ephesus, Turkey. © Special to Cruiseable -
17 The Great Theatre of Ephesus was built in the first century AD and later renovated by several Roman emperors. It consists of 66 rows of solid stone seats divided into three sections. © Special to Cruiseable -
18 Kusadasi Castle, or the Fortress of Kusadasi, is a 13th century Byzantine castle near the port of Kuşadası. © Special to Cruiseable
During my Viking Star ocean cruise to the Eastern Med, one of the top highlights was a guided tour of the ancient ruins of Ephesus in Turkey, about a 35-minute bus ride from the port of Kusadasi. (Viking included this tour at no extra cost.)
Ephesus figures prominently in the New Testament (I'm a recovering Catholic), and I remember those homilies about Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, and John the Apostle lived in Ephesus and was buried there. The city was settled in the tenth century B.C. and had a population of 33,000 to 56,000 people during the Roman era.
The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Wikipedia tells us. But it's gone now.
For me, the highlight was the awe-inspiring Library of Celsus, built around 125 A.D. in memory of Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, an Ancient Greek who served as governor of Roman Asia (105–107) in the Roman Empire. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth and is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it. The library once held nearly 12,000 scrolls. In front of the Library of Celsus are four statues depicting Wisdom, Virtue, Intellect and Knowledge.
Bring some sunscreen and a hat, it gets hot!
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