Temple of Artemis

The Temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — a vast marble temple, four times the size of the Parthenon, that was rebuilt three times on the same site between the 8th and 4th centuries BC. Today the wonder is reduced to a single column, reassembled by archaeologists from fragments, standing in a marshy field on the edge of town. A stork's nest usually sits on top.

There is little here to look at, and yet there is something specifically humbling about the gap between what was and what remains — a column in a flooded paddock, a flock of geese, and the Isa Bey Mosque and the Basilica of St John visible on the hill above. The site is free, takes ten minutes, and should be combined with the museum and the basilica.

things to do sight
A story
On the night of 21 July 356 BC — the same night, the Greek historians claimed, that Alexander the Great was born — a man named Herostratus set fire to the original Temple of Artemis specifically to make his name famous through the act. The Ephesians executed him and decreed that his name should never be spoken or written; the fact that we know it is itself evidence of how well the strategy worked.

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