Why go
The modest site can be hard to reconcile with the ancient monument’s reputation. John Turtle Wood’s 1869 discovery, followed by later excavations, connects the column on the ground to fragments held by the British Museum and makes the scale of the loss easier to grasp.
The full story
John Turtle Wood searched for six years before locating the Temple of Artemis in 1869, on an expedition sponsored by the British Museum. Excavations continued until 1874. David George Hogarth led another campaign in 1904–1906, when more sculptural fragments came to light. Pieces from the fourth-century BC rebuilding, together with some earlier material reused as fill, were taken to the British Museum. The excavations also found an early hoard of coins buried in the foundations of the Archaic temple. At the site just outside Selçuk, a single column assembled from separate fragments marks the sanctuary today. Its patchwork form is useful to keep in mind: this is an archaeological reconstruction amid the remains, not an intact column standing where ancient visitors saw it. The gap between the sparse ruins and the museum finds is part of the temple’s modern history.