Selcuk Things to Do

3 more images

This hall has one of the icons of the town in the form of the multi-breasted Artemis that once adorned the Temple of Artemis. In fact there's two of them in this hall along with a scale model of how the temple would have once looked (all that exists today is a single column).

4 more images

This hall is full of statues, busts and friezes with highlights including the original friezes of the Temple of Hadrian, statues of Augustus and his wife Livia, fragments of a once 7-metre high statue of Emperor Domitian, and some fragments of the Parthian Monument.

4 more images

This section of the museum is located on the left after you buy your ticket. It's dedicated to the finds that were found during the excavations at the Terrace Houses in Ephesus and the majority of which belong to the Roman period. On the left are the plans and excavation photographs of the houses as well as the statues of Asclepius, the God of Medicine and his daughter Hygieia. There are also busts of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the heads of Priapos, the God of Fertility, Bes, Emperor Tiberius and Livia. There's also an interior house scene with wall frescoes, statues and a mosaic.

4 more images

With the epic remains of Ephesus just a few kilometres down the road, Selcuk, unsurprisingly, has a top-notch museum dedicated to not only Ephesus but to the sites in the town such as the Basilica of St John and the Byzantine Aqueduct. The museum is different from other museums as it's not designed according to chronological order but to rooms with a theme. For example the rooms are called Terrace Houses & Hall of House Finds, The Hall of The Fountain Relics, The Hall of The Funerary Relics, The Hall of Emperor Cults & Portraits, The Hall of Artemis, The Gladiators Section etc. There's also a courtyard which exhibits sarcophagi, capitals and marble blocks recovered from Ephesus and the Artemision that were used in the pillars of the aqueduct. There's some top exhibits here which make it an unmissable stop before heading to Ephesus.

Admission: TL5.

4 more images

The Isa Bey Mosque is one of the most delicate examples of Seljukian architecture, situated below the Basilica of Saint John. The mosque was built by the master Syrian architecture Ali son of Mushimish al-Damishki, between the years of 1374 and 1375.

The mosque was styled asymmetrically unlike the traditional style, the location of the windows, doors and domes were not matched, purposely. The rims of its domes (of diameters 9.4m and 8.1m) are decorated with Iznik tiles. 12 round columns from Ephesus stand inside its courtyard encircled with porches. Its brick minaret is built on an octagonal base, and the upper part from the balcony is ruined. The mosque had another minaret on the west, which is totally destroyed now. The mihrab (niche or altar) was moved to another mosque.

2 more images

Three hundred years after the death of St. John, a small chapel was constructed over the spot that is believed to be his grave in the 4th century. The, then, Church of St John was changed into a marvellous basilica during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD). Raised by two steps and covered with marble, the tomb of St John was under the central dome, that was once carried by the four columns at the corners. The columns in the courtyard reveal the monograms of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora.

4 more images

It is believed that the evangelist St. John had spent his last years in the region around Ephesus and buried in the southern slope of Ayasuluk Hill. Three hundred years after the death of St. John, a small chapel was constructed over the grave in the 4th century. The church of St John was changed into a marvellous basilica during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD). The monumental basilica was in the shape of a cross and was covered with six domes. Its construction, being of stone and brick, is an extremely rare find amongst the architecture of its time. Raised by two steps and covered with marble, the tomb of St John was under the central dome, that was once carried by the four columns at the corners. The columns in the courtyard reveal the monograms of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. Constructed in the 5th century AD, the baptistery to the north of the nave, has a key hole shape. Rampart walls around the church were constructed for protection from the Arabian attracts in the 7th and 8th centuries. The impressive 10th century AD frescoes representing St John, Jesus and a Saint, are located in a small chapel treasury. With the invasion of the Turks, the chapel was used as a mosque in the 14th century. Unfortunately the Basilica became unusable due to a serious earthquake in 1365-70.

Admission: TL5.

4 more images

Another major landmark in the town is the Byzantine Aqueduct which cuts right through the middle of the town from the cisterns near the Basilica of St John, past the train station and into the eastern part of the town before continuing along the Sirince gorge and then northwards. They brought drinking water, which was supplied from the springs in the east of the Pranga district between Belevi and Selcuk, to the Byzantine period settlement on the Ayasuluk hill and the Basilica of St John, which was a pilgrimage centre in Medieval times. Marble blocks recovered from Ephesus and the Artemision were used in the pillars of the aqueduct as well as Ionic capitals dating back to the Archaic period which can now be seen in the courtyard of the Ephesus Museum. A cistern has been recently unearthed and restored in the place where the aqueduct reached Ayasuluk hill. Fluted columns and capitals date back to the 2nd century AD, which were brought from Ephesus, were used in the water cistern with an arched and vaulted structure.