Selçuk

Selçuk is located near the Aegean coast of Türkiye and has a population of about 28 thousand.¹ Long ago it and its environs constituted the city of Ἔφεσoς (Ephesos or Ephesus), later called Άγιος Θεόλόγες (Hagiós Theólógos or Holy Word of God), which became يصلغ (Ayusuluǧ). The Greek city was on the coast but its harbor silted up. The old city was destroyed by a seventh century earthquake. During the beginning and middle of the fifth century BCE), it paid tribute to Athēnai, the controller of the Delian League. It was famed in antiquity for the Temple of Artemis, but it was destroyed by a Christian mob in the early fifth century CE. Among the more preserved ruins are the Library of Celsus (second century CE), a sixth century Christian basilica and a Roman gate. Later buildings include the İsa Bey Mosque and the Grand Fortress.

External references

Library of Celsus at Ephesos

Historical maps

Footnotes

1. World-gazetteer.com, calculated estimate for 2010, accessed 5/7 and 9/3/2011.
2. All but 2000 from Tables of the World's Largest Cities, in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 430 BCE it was the largest city in what is now Türkiye (Turkey) and the seventh largest city in the world.
3. In Chandler, in 430 BCE, Ephesos was smaller than Marib (45 thousand) and "Penghsiang" (no estimate) but larger than Sparta (40 thousand).