Why go
This is the turning point that makes the archaeology legible. The older Artemis sanctuary remained near Selçuk, while the new planned city occupied a different position between the hills and the harbor. The separation between them is historical, not a missing piece of the visitor route.
The full story
Alexander took control of the region after his victory at the Granicus in 334 BC. Ancient writers tell of his offer to finance the rebuilding of the Temple of Artemis, an offer the Ephesians declined; the account is a useful story about the sanctuary’s prestige, though its reported dialogue should not be treated as a transcript. After Alexander’s death, Lysimachus gained the area and founded a new settlement named Arsinoea for his wife. The move responded in part to changing conditions around the older harbor and placed the city at the site of much of the later Hellenistic and Roman street plan. The name Ephesus returned after Lysimachus’s death. Control then moved among successor kingdoms, including Seleucid and Ptolemaic rulers, before the city became part of the Pergamene kingdom. The key visual distinction is between the long-lived sanctuary and the relocated city. Their distance tells a real story about political power and an unstable coastal landscape.