Ephesus Small Group Day Tour from Izmir

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. The House of the Virgin Mary (or Meryem Ana Evi in Turkish) is a place where, according to the beliefs of many people Mary, the mother of Jesus, spent the last years of her life. She was supposed to arrive at Ephesus together with St. John and lived there in the years 37-45 CE until her Assumption (according to Catholic doctrine) or Dormition (according to Orthodox belief).

   30 minAdmission included

2. Of Turkey's hundreds of ancient cities and classical ruins, Ephesus is the grandest and best preserved. Indeed, it's the best place on the Mediterranean to get a feel for what life was like in ancient times. Ancient Ephesus was a great trading city and a centre for the cult of Cybele, the Anatolian fertility goddess.

   2 hAdmission included

3. Odeon. The Odeion of Ancient Ephesus is a small, semi-circular theater originally constructed in the 2nd century A.D and financed by PubliusVedius Antonius and his wife FlaviaPaiana. The building would have served as a space for political meetings, social events, concerts, and theatrical performances.

   15 minAdmission included

4. This magnificent library dating from the early 2nd century AD, the best-known monument in Ephesus, has been extensively restored. Originally built as part of a complex, the library looks bigger than it actually is: the convex facade base heightens the central elements, while the middle columns and capitals are larger than those at the ends. Facade niches hold replica statues of the Four Virtues. From left to right, they are Sophia (Wisdom), Arete (Goodness), Ennoia (Thought) and Episteme (Knowledge).

   20 minAdmission included

5. This temple dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian is considered one of the best preserved and most beautiful structures on Curetes Street. It was constructed in the beginning of the 2nd century AD by P. Quintilius to celebrate Hadrian visiting the city from Athens.

   10 minAdmission included

6. The great theater of Ephesus is a splendidly preserved and very impressive building. This structure, built of marble, has a width of 145 meters, and its audience once reached up to 30 meters. In its heyday, it could accommodate up to 24,000 spectators. The construction of the theater began in Hellenistic times.

   20 minAdmission included

7. Isabey mosque was built in a post-Seljuk/pre-Ottoman transitional style, when Selcuk was capital of the Aydin Emirate. An inscription in Arabic above the main entrance states that it was built in 1375.

   15 minAdmission included

8. Temple of Artemis (or Artemision), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In an empty field to the west of the centre, this lone reconstructed pillar is all that remains of the massive Temple of Artemis (or Artemision) At its zenith, the temple counted 127 columns.

   15 minAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 14 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in İzmir

• Its from-price is close to the median of the 148 day trips we list in İzmir.
• It is longer than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 33 of 148.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About İzmir

İzmir is Turkey's third-largest city, an Aegean port with an old bazaar, a seafront promenade and the ancient ruins of Ephesus and Pergamon within reach.

İzmir, known to the ancient Greeks as Smyrna, lies at the head of a deep gulf on the Aegean coast. Konak Square has an ornate clock tower from 1901 and the small Konak Mosque, and the Kemeraltı bazaar sprawls behind it with workshops, mosques and old caravanserais. The Asansör, a historic lift in the Karataş district, rises to a terrace overlooking the gulf, and a long promenade, the Kordon, runs beside the water.

Top-ranked sights in İzmir: Pergamon (Pergamum), Sardis (Sart), Bergama Asklepion (Pergamon Asclepeion).

See all 482 experiences in İzmir