Temple of Artemis

The Artemision was counted among the seven wonders of the ancient world - a temple of around a hundred and twenty columns, larger than the Parthenon, rebuilt several times across the centuries and famous enough that Antipater of Sidon ranked it above all the others he had seen. It was destroyed and rebuilt, burned, restored, and finally dismantled over the late Roman and Byzantine periods, its marble carted off for other buildings, some of it into the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and into the basilica on the hill above. What remains is a low field, often waterlogged, with foundation blocks, fragments and a single column reassembled from surviving drums standing in the middle of it, usually with a stork's nest on top. It is a twenty-minute stop and it is free, and the gap between what the place was and what is there now is the entire point of going.

History

The beginnings of the temple are unclear, but its earliest version was swept away by a flood in the 7th century BC, and around 550 BC the Cretan architect Chersiphron began a far grander rebuilding paid for by King Croesus of Lydia. That temple stood until 356 BC, when an arsonist set it on fire; it was rebuilt again, and the last version was wrecked in 262 AD, though Artemis was still worshipped at the site until around 401. Counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it survives only as foundations and fragments (Wikipedia, Temple of Artemis).

What to look for

• The single column - drums reassembled in the field.
• The foundations - the outline of the temple platform.
• The marshy ground - the waterlogged site and its storks.
• The hill above - the basilica built partly from its marble.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Any time of day; the site is small and open. After heavy rain much of it stands under water.

Good to know

There is very little here - one column and some blocks - and visitors expecting a wonder of the world are routinely disappointed. It takes twenty minutes. Free entry, no facilities, and vendors at the roadside.

Nearby

The Basilica of St John is up the hill; Ephesus is three kilometres west and the Ephesus Museum is in Selçuk.

Key facts