 | Ephesus Virgin Mary House Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 12 |  |
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The house of Virgin Mary enjoys a marvelous atmosphere hidden in the green. It is the place where Mary may have spent her last days. Indeed, she may have come in the area together with Saint John, who spent several years in the area to spread Christianity. Mary preferred this remote place rather than living in crowded place. The cottage is a typical Roman architectural example, entirely made of stones. In the 4th century AD, a church, combining her house and grave, has been built. The original two-stored house, which consisted of an anteroom (where today candles are proposed), bedroom and praying room (Christian church area) and a room with fireplace (chapel for Muslims). A front kitchen fell into ruins and has been restored in 1940's. Today, only the central part and a room on the right of the altar are open to visitors. From there one can understand that this building looks more like a church than a house. Another interesting place is the "Water of Mary", a source to be found at the exit of the church area and where a rather salt water, with curative properties, can be drunk by all. Paul VI was the first pope to visit this place in the 1960's. Later, in the 1980's, during his visit, Pope John-Paul II declared the Shrine of Virgin Mary has a pilgrimage place for Christians. It is also visited by Muslims who recognize Mary as the mother of one of their prophets. Every year, on August 15th a ceremony is organized to commemorate Mary's Assumption. Leave a Comment Address: near Selcuk EphesusDirections: Located on the top of the "Bulbul" mountain 9 km ahead of Ephesus
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| | | | Virgin Mary House: House of the Virgin Mary | Tip Rating: | | | | |
This site is up in the hills, a few miles from Ephesus. The house is actually a Catholic chapel, and the Catholic Church maintains the site. The site was identified by a 19th century German mystic. This ancient house was similar to the site she identified in her visions. The belief that the Virgin Mary was in Ephesus is tied to Jesus' instructions to St. John to care for his mother. Since St. John was in Ephesus, Mary was thought to be there as well. Our guide told us that there was a lot of excitement several years back, when archealogists thought that they had discovered Mary's grave behind the house. The site was shut off for 3 days, there were helicopters patrolling the sky above and everything was very hush-hush. The Catholic Church firmly denied this, and the story soon died away. The Catholic Church holds as doctrine the belief of the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven. While many Orthodox believe the same, it is not held as doctrine in the Orthodox Church. So, if there was a grave, then there could be no bodily assumption. I'm not coming down on either side of the issue, just thought it interesting the hubbub it caused. Frankly though, I'm skeptical of the whole thing--the association of this site with Mary was not something anciently held, such as the site of St. John's burial in Ephesus, but rather, a fairly recent idea, based on a supposed vision. Anyway, it is an interesting site--go see it whether you believe it to be her house or not. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Virgin Mary House: Meryama | | | | | |
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