Must see
Ephesus Ancient City
The marble metropolis of 250,000 Romans: library, theater, temples and streets that still feel inhabited.
Written by locals, not copied from guidebooks
Attractions Around Ephesus
Every wonder within reach of Ephesus — described by the people who grew up next door to them.
Must see
Local favorite
Terrace Houses in Ephesus
Seven Roman villas under one protective roof, their frescoes and mosaics astonishingly intact. The sight most visitors wrongly skip.
Icon
Library of Celsus
The third-greatest library of the ancient world — and secretly a mausoleum. The building every visitor comes for.
Must see
Great Theatre of Ephesus
The 25,000-seat giant where Saint Paul faced a screaming crowd — and where the acoustics still carry a whisper to the top row.
The classic walk
Curetes Street
The sloping avenue at the heart of Ephesus — temples, fountains, shops and three thousand years of footsteps underfoot.
Local favorite
Temple of Hadrian
The jewel-box temple on Curetes Street — Tyche on the arch, Medusa over the door, and the legend of the city's founding in its friezes.
First stop
Odeon of Ephesus
The intimate marble hall where the city council governed by day and musicians played by night — your first monument inside the upper gate.
Walk this way
Marble Street & the Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates
The grand marble avenue between the Library and the Theatre — wheel ruts, a scandalous carved advertisement, and a gate built by two grateful freedmen.
A dark tale
Temple of Domitian
The first imperial cult temple of Ephesus, its colossal statue — and the remarkable story of how a murdered emperor was deleted from history.
Look closer
Fountain of Trajan
A monumental fountain with the emperor's foot on the globe — proof in marble that the Romans knew the earth was round.
Guests' favorite story
Baths of Scholastica & the Public Latrines
Three floors of Roman bathing culture and the sociable marble latrines beside them — the corner of Ephesus everyone remembers.
Small but mighty
Hercules Gate
The hero in his lion skin guards the top of Curetes Street — a gate designed to keep carts out of downtown, two millennia before car-free city centers.
Follow the money
Commercial Agora & Harbour Street
The vast market square where three continents traded, and the illuminated marble boulevard that once ran to the sea itself.
Turning point
Church of Mary (Council Church)
The first church ever dedicated to the Virgin Mary — and the hall where the Council of Ephesus proclaimed her Theotokos in AD 431.
Legend
Cave of the Seven Sleepers
The grotto where seven persecuted youths reportedly slept for two centuries — a legend shared by Christianity and Islam, five minutes from Ephesus.
Pilgrimage
House of Virgin Mary
The hillside house where tradition holds Mary lived her last years — discovered through a nun's visions, honored by three popes.
Seven Wonders
Temple of Artemis
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, built and destroyed three times — its last column still standing guard.
Sacred site
Basilica of Saint John
Justinian's great basilica over the tomb of Saint John the Evangelist, with the finest view over Selcuk thrown in.
Living heritage
Isa Bey Mosque
A jewel of Seljuk architecture from 1375, still an active mosque — and the calmest courtyard in Selcuk.
Indoor gem
Ephesus Museum in Selcuk
Home of the famous Artemis statues, gladiator reliefs and the emperor's colossal head — Ephesus's portable treasures under one roof.
Best view
Ayasuluk Fortress
The citadel above Selcuk where Ephesus was born — Neolithic roots, Byzantine walls and the best panorama in town.
Village charm
Sirince Village
Whitewashed houses, fruit wines and lazy lanes six kilometers above Ephesus — the Aegean's favorite village.
Philosophy's cradle
Miletus Ancient City
The great port that gave the world its first philosopher — with a 15,000-seat Roman theater still standing proud.
Colossal
Didyma Apollo Temple
One of antiquity's greatest oracles and most colossal temples — its column drums wider than a dinner table.
Dramatic
Pergamon Ancient City
The mountaintop capital: the ancient world's steepest theater, the Zeus altar terrace and Revelation's "Satan's Throne."
Fascinating
Asclepion of Pergamon
Antiquity's most famous hospital, where Galen healed gladiators with springs, dreams and a whispering tunnel.
The port town
Kusadasi, Port of Ephesus
The lively resort where the cruise ships dock: beaches, bazaar, Pigeon Island castle and a national park next door.
City break
Izmir, Ancient Smyrna
Ancient Smyrna turned modern metropolis — Roman agora, legendary bazaar and the most relaxed seafront in Turkey.
See them all with one call
Any of these sites can be woven into your private Ephesus tour. Tell us your wish list — and browse our tour photos to see them first.