The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis, the Library of Celsus, and its open-air theatre. It had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world.
The city and temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263 AD. This marked the decline of the city's splendor.
The 'terrace houses' at Ephesus show how wealthy lived during the Roman period.
Terrace House 1 is a housing block, which since its
foundation period in the 1st century BC, was divided into six
parcels, each representing a residential unit. The rooms of each individual
residential unit are grouped around a central colonnaded courtyard.
Unit 6 shows the existence of two heatable rooms and
numerous basins prove that a bath was installed. Floors, walls and basins were covered
with marble, the windows attired with glass.
In Terrace House 2, several wall paintings feature
drawings and graffiti, which offer an insight into the everyday life of the
inhabitants. The drawings mainly show gladiators, caricatures and animals. The
graffiti include names of persons, poems and declarations of love. Especially
interesting is a group of 30 lists conferring to goods and necessities of
everyday life including their prices.
The small Unit 3 boats a rich figurative mosaic
embellishment in three rooms and decorative wall paintings in the ‘Room of the
Muses.’
Terrace House 2 comprises the largest complex of
mosaic floors from the Roman Imperial period in Western Turkey. Most of the
mosaics dating from the beginning of the 1st century to the first
half of the 3rd century AD feature geometric patterns using small
black and whites stones a clear link with mosaics from Italy.
