Why go
This period links the Roman streets with Selçuk’s hilltop ruins. Visiting both reveals that Ephesus did not simply vanish after antiquity; its religious center and settlement pattern changed as the harbor silted and the lowland city became less practical. The former port and the hilltop church show that change from opposite viewpoints.
The full story
In the early Byzantine centuries, Ephesus was still a significant city in western Asia Minor. The Church of Mary is associated with the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, and the great Basilica of St. John was built on Ayasuluk Hill under Justinian in the sixth century. These sites show the strength of Christian institutions after the age of the Artemis sanctuary. Earthquake damage in the seventh century and later Arab raids contributed to disruption. At the same time, sediment carried by the Cayster made the harbor progressively harder to use, despite attempts to maintain it. The loss of direct maritime access affected trade and encouraged movement away from the old lowland center. By the medieval period, the settlement around Ayasuluk Hill mattered more than the former Roman city. Details of individual destructions are less important to a visit than this long shift of focus. The hillside basilica and the route of Harbor Street make the change visible at opposite ends of the historic landscape.