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Detailed guide to Marmaris > Historical excursions from Marmaris > The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus – one of the Seven Wonders of the world
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus is one of the Seven Wonders of the World
25.01.2014 / Author: Admin
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus was known far beyond the city limits throughout the territory of ancient Greece.
It was listed among the "Seven Wonders of the World" - a list of the most famous sights of the Ancient World.
Today, the remains of the famous temple of Artemis are located in the modern Turkish city of Selcuk, not far from ancient Ephesus (see the map of attractions), and you can visit it by going on an excursion to Ephesus from Marmaris.
Artemis was revered as the goddess of fertility, the patroness of the moon, animals and hunting, later as the patroness of chastity and the guardian of women in labor.
The cult of the goddess Artemis was very significant in Ephesus.
The temple in honor of Artemis was built and rebuilt many times.
The place for the temple was not chosen by chance – in ancient times, the sanctuary of the Karian goddess of fertility was located on this place.
The original wooden buildings were destroyed by earthquakes, burned in fires and fell into disrepair over time.
In the middle of the VI century BC, the Ephesians decided to build the largest and most beautiful temple for the patroness of the city.
King Croesus of Lydia, who was famous for his wealth, made a large donation for the construction of the temple.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Reconstruction
In order to prevent the temple from being destroyed by earthquakes, the architect Hersifron from Knossos decided to build a new temple on a swampy site near Ephesus.
The soft soil was supposed to self mortize the vibrations of the ground during earthquakes.
To protect the temple from sinking into the swampy soil, a huge pit was dug and filled with a multi meter mixture of coal and wool.
The decision was non standard, but the citizens approved the project.
The construction of the temple began.
To deliver the columns to the temple, an unusual decision was made: the columns were not transported on carts that were stuck in soft ground, but were themselves turned into a kind of wheels.
A team of oxen was fastened to the rod in the upper and lower parts of the column, this allowed the columns to obediently roll to their intended place.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Reconstruction
There is a legend according to which the stone beam of the threshold did not want to take its place in any way.
The architect Hersifron was in despair and was ready to commit suicide, but the goddess Artemis herself intervened in the construction of the temple and helped the stubborn beam to lie down in the place assigned to it.
However, Hersifron did not have time to finish his great creation.
Under him, the temple building was reduced and a colonnade was installed.
The construction of the temple was delayed for 120 years.
The temple was completed first by his son Metagenes, and later by Peonite and Demetrius.
Under the architect Metagen, the upper part of the temple was completed.
But a new difficulty arose – the architrave had to be placed on top of the column carefully so that the column's capital would not be damaged.
The problem was solved again in a non standard way – sandbags were placed on the top of the column.
Beams were carefully placed on the bags, the sand was poured out under their weight, and the beam gradually occupied the right place.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus photo
The architects Peonite and Demetrius completed the construction of the temple by 550 BC.
The huge temple of Artemis was 110 meters long and 55 meters wide.
Two rows of 18 meter columns surrounded the temple.
According to the legend, "127 kings were presented with a column" to a beautiful temple.
The roof was not covered with tiles, as was usually done, but with marble slabs.
But the temple stood for less than 200 years.
According to legend, on the night when the future Alexander the Great was born in the capital of Macedonia, a certain Herostratus, wanting to become famous for centuries, burned the temple of Artemis, in 356 BC.
Legend says that the goddess Artemis helped the birth of Alexander and could not protect the temple.
According to the decision of the city council, the punishment for the criminal was to be his complete oblivion, but despite this, the name has come down to our days, becoming a household name.
The temple was badly damaged in a fire, and the Ephesians did not spare their savings and decorations for its restoration.
With the assistance of Alexander the Great, the restoration of the temple began on an even larger scale, and by the III century BC, the construction was completed.
The work was supervised by the architect Alexander Deinocrates (or Heyrocrates, according to Strabo), who preserved the previous plan of the temple, erecting it on a higher foundation.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Reconstruction
Amazed by the scale of the new creation, Alexander the Great offered the Ephesians to cover all current and future expenses for the creation of the temple, with the condition that his name should be in the dedicatory inscription.
The Ephesians refused, diplomatically answering: "It is not good for God to build temples to other gods."
The temple in Ephesus remained the temple of Artemis.
Another legend has come down to our time.
As a sign of gratitude to Alexander the Great for his participation in the restoration of the temple after the fire, the residents of the city of Ephesus commissioned the artist Apelles to paint a portrait of the commander.
In the portrait, he was depicted like Zeus with a lightning bolt in his hand.
The painting turned out to be so perfect, and the optical effect, which convinced the viewer that the hand with the lightning protrudes beyond the canvas, was so impressive that the customers paid the artist as much as twenty five gold talents.
The amount went down in history, since over the next three centuries, no artist managed to get such a sum for one canvas.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus photo.
Reconstruction
The best sculptors and artists took part in the decoration of the temple.
The temple of Artemis in Ephesus was made of marble and limestone.
120 columns 20 meters high framed it.
The columns were made of huge blocks fastened together.
Inside, the temple of Aphrodite was decorated with sculptures of Praxiteles and reliefs of Scopas.
The temple was the largest temple in the ancient world.
Even the Parthenon in Athens was much smaller than the Ephesian wonder of the world.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Reconstruction
A statue of the goddess Artemis was installed in the temple.
During the excavations of the temple, a marble multi breasted goddess Artemis was discovered, which can be seen in the museum of Ephesus.
Artemis "Polymastos" with three rows of breasts (according to another version – bull testicles) was a symbol of abundance.
Artemis of Ephesus
Until now, it is not known exactly about the origin of these formations on the goddess.
The most well reasoned hypothesis is that "these formations" are beads that were hung on the statue for ritual purposes.
This hypothesis is confirmed by a large number of beads in the form of vessels, which were discovered during excavations in the Artemisionum of Ephesus.
Despite the mystery of the origin of the appearance of Artemis, only one thing is clear, the cult of the goddess Artemis in Ephesus basically goes back to the cult of the eastern Great Mother, which existed in these territories in ancient times.
This is confirmed by the fact that despite the difficulties with the construction of the temple on a swampy territory, the temple was not moved to another more suitable place.
The version about the" many breasted " Artemis was described mainly only by Christian authors, according to one version in order to discredit the goddess as a relic of paganism, and which did not fit into the new concept.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus was not only the place of worship of the goddess of fertility Artemis, but also the business and financial center of ancient Ephesus.
It was completely independent of the authorities of Ephesus and was ruled by priests.
As the Architect Hersifron had hoped, the temple of Artemis on the swamp stood for almost five hundred years.
In the Roman era, it became known as the temple of Diana, the emperors gave it gold and silver statues.
The richness and beauty of the temple brought him great fame and put him among the seven wonders of the world.
According to legends, the goddess Artemis did not want to part with her place of residence.
The Ephesians expelled the Apostle Paul and those who decided to follow him.
For this, they were punished.
In 263, the temple of Artemis was looted by the Gothic tribes, but the final destruction of the temple of Artemis occurred in the 400s, when the cult of the goddess Artemis lost its significance.
A church was built on the site of the temple, which also collapsed over time.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Current state
In the Byzantine period, marble cladding began to be pulled apart for the construction of other buildings.
After the roof was dismantled, the unity of the overall structure was violated, the columns began to fall and sink in the swamp.
For several decades, the last traces of the most beautiful and largest temple of Ionia were lost, even the place of the temple was forgotten.
The English archaeologist Wood searched for the ruins of the temple for a long time and finally found them in 1869.
The foundation of the sanctuary of Artemis was opened only in the twentieth century.
Under the foundation of a later temple, the remains of a temple burned by Herostratus were found.
And the name that the Ephesians decided to forget, they remembered again.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Current state
From one of the wonders of the world – the temple of Artemis – in our time there is only one column left.
The height of the column is 14 meters and it is 4 meters lower than the original column.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
Current state
In 1870, an expedition of the British Museum made excavations in Ephesus, during which only a part of the fragments of the frieze and smaller details were found.
Now these exhibits are located in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul and the British Museum in London.
Useful tips
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus is located in the so called Artemisionum.
You can find it if you turn off at the first turn from Selchuk on the road leading to Kusadasi and to the lower entrance to Ephesus.
15 minutes will be enough to explore the ruins of the temple of Artemis, so you can visit it slowly after visiting Ephesus.
The entrance to the territory of Artemisionin Selchuk is free of charge.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
After visiting the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite, we recommend visiting the Ephesus Museum in Selcuk, which houses unique artifacts found during the excavations of Ephesus and the Temple of Aphrodite.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
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Category: Historical excursions from Marmaris |
Tags: ancient city, antiquities, history, legends, ephesus
One comment on " The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus – one of the Seven Wonders of the world”
Alla Dragunova:
18/05/2015 at 13: 50
oh, very brief information...
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