Guide
Excavation on Ayasuluk hill changed what was known about Ephesus. The city had been assumed to date from around 1050 BC; the archaeological finds here show it was founded in the third millennium BC, in the Bronze Age, and that Ayasuluk was one of the first Ephesian settlements.
The hill stands in Selçuk district and carries three principal buildings: the basilica of St. Jean, Ayasuluk castle and the İsa Bey mosque. Ephesus was an important city and a pilgrimage centre under Byzantium; in 1304 it passed under Turkish rule and took the name Ayasuluk, served for a time as the capital of the Aydınoğulları principality, and was joined to the Ottoman state in 1390.
The monument on the south of the hill covers the grave of John, one of the apostles, and the church built in his memory. The name appears in different sources as St. Jean, St. John, St. Jean Theologos, Aziz Yahya and Aziz Yuhanna. Over his grave a monument and a timber-roofed church were built in stages.
Entry fee
- Single entry to the museum or site · Local
- MüzeKart
- Single entry to the museum or site · Foreign
- €6
