Ephesus

Once an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, Ephesus is now part of modern-day Turkey located near the city of Selcuk in the Izmir province. During the Roman period, Ephesus was the second-largest city in the Roman empire after Rome, itself. In the first century BC, Ephesus became the second largest city in the world with a population of 250,000—a far cry from Tokyo's largest population today of over 30 million. Currently, only 15% of Ephesus' ruins have been excavated, leaving an impressive amount of history undiscovered.

Aside from its ruins, Ephesus is revered for its place in religious history. Countless pilgrims visit the ancient city as the once home to the apostles Paul and John, and the Virgin Mary. It is there where Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and John may have written his Gospel.

Because there are so many notable sites, I will write several posts about the area.