Ephesus & Terrace Houses

Observe the spectacular ruins in Ephesus, including an excavated complex of residential Terrace Houses that offer great insight into the daily lives of the inhabitants.

After departing from the pier, you will enjoy a leisurely ride to Ephesus, which was once the second largest city in the Roman Empire. Starting at the Magnesia Gate, you will walk past a series of excavated ruins that reveal the beauty of this venerable World Heritage site.

You might see the classical Grand Theater where St. Paul preached, the Fountain of Trajan with its regal statue of the emperor and the Library of Celsus, a monument constructed as a mausoleum with a separate library for scrolls and codexes. One column of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also remains.

Across from Hadrian’s Temple on the slopes of Bulbul Mountain lie the Terrace Houses. These residences for the affluent date to the 1st century B.C. and showcase the surprisingly sophisticated Ephesian way of life known in Latin as modus vivendi. They are adorned with mosaics and frescoes, had hot and cold water, and heating pipes running beneath the floors.

The Terrace Houses line streets that form a grid by intersecting each other at right angles. The ancient Greek architect Hippodamus of Miletus, who is considered the Father of European Urban Planning, designed the plan.

Back in Kusadasi, you might spend free time shopping or stay in town longer for an enlightening carpet lecture.