Efes Antique City

Efes Antique City

Efes Antique City, Selçuk, Turkey/Celsus Library, Selçuk, Turkey/Selcuk is a touristic town in the southern part of Izmir. It is 70 km away from Izmir and 8km away from the Aegean Coast.It has extraordinary historical sites and, also, natural beauties. It is surrounded by forests in the south and by orchards in the east, by the sea in the west and fields in the north. The lake called Birds' Paradise is in the south east. The town's people's consciousness of living together with archeological sites, ruins and natural beauties is at its peak in the town. The touristic facilities on the coast cover only a small part of the whole coast and the big part of it is still untouched and stays with its original beauty. The town is an important center of the world in terms of archeology, religion, history and culture while in the antiquity, it was famous with Ephesus which was one of the largest cities of Asia at its time and Temple of Artemis which was one of the seven wonders of ancient times. Ephesus became one of the most important centers during the early Christian era With St. John, St. Paul, St. Lucas and Ecumenical Council which was held in Ephesus in 431 AD. This is why it was announced as a place for pilgrimage for Christians by The Pope. Known existence of synagogues in the region, which haven't been excavated, yet, proves this place's importance for the supporters of Jewish Religion, also. Early Turkish, Islamic-Ottoman period constructions and a lot of Selcukian art workscreated during 12 th Century AD are very important cultural remains which worth seeing