Visiting Two More Ancient Wonders

My Journey Through the Civilizations of Turkey - Part 2

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus

It was challenging creating a five-week itinerary through Turkey. But slowly it took shape. I flew into Istanbul on July 31st and stayed for a week. I also booked a weeklong sailing trip through the Aegean Sea that started in Bodrum and ended in Fethiye for the end of August. That left one week left to plan. Antalya, Cappadocia, Ankara. What would it be. With my yearlong mission to explore ancient civilizations and its greatest wonders, I settled on Izmir, the closest city to Ephesus.

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

Around 1000 BCE, Ancient Greeks migrated to Anatolia (the southeast part of modern-day Turkey) and colonized many cities like Halicarnassus and Ephesus. Around 550BCE, Anatolia became part of the Persian Empire. The Persians controlled this region until the arrival of Alexander the Great around 33oBCE. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Bodrum was built between 353BC and 351BC at the end of the Persian Empire. It was commissioned by Artemisia II as a grand tomb for her brother-husband Mausolus, the ruler of Caria in the capital city. After Mausolus’s death in 353 BCE, Artemisia oversaw its construction, a temple-like structure designed by the finest Greek architects and sculptors, combining Greek, Egyptian, and Lycian styles. She married her brother, then he died. The monument to her grief was a Wonder of the Ancient World | CNN

Of the six remaining Ancient Wonders, the Mausoleum is least preserved. It was probably destroyed by a series of earthquakes between the 12th and the 15th century, and the stones were reused in local buildings. Walking through the ruins and touching stones carved by ancient Greek sculptors was magical. The craftmanship was clearly evident through weather worn marble.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Thought to have been founded in the 10th century BC by the Athenian prince Androklos after receiving an oracle from Delphi which instructed him to follow a fish and a boar. Ephesus grew into a thriving city until 650 BC, when it was attacked, damaged and eventually conquered by the vast Persian Empire. The city was involved in the Greco-Persian wars but then fell back under Persian rule until its liberation by Alexander the Great who rebuilt the city.

Ephesus was a center of learning and the birthplace and home of the great philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus. Women enjoyed rights and privileges equal to men and there are records of female artists, sculptors, painters and teachers. At night the streets of the city were brightly lit with oil lamps, a luxury not many cities could afford, and the citizens enjoyed a significantly high standard of living.

The temple was constructed entirely of marble around 550BCE by King Croesus of Lydia and was built in honor of Artemis, the Greek goddess of fertility, hunting and childbirth. The temple was destroyed by fire in 356 BCE. Construction on a new larger and more grandiose temple started a year later. The Goths plunders and destroyed the temple during raids in 265 CE. It stayed in partial ruins until 400 CE when Christian mobs destroyed the remaining structures.

What remains of the great temple is a lonely column.

The site is a treasure trove of historical artifacts. It's easy to picture what life was like as I walked through its streets and viewed the remnants of magnificent houses, community buildings, temples and stadiums. Some of the most impressive sites at Ephesus include the Library of Celsus and the Temple of Hadrian.

The seven wonders of the world is a list created by ancient Greek travelers and scholars of the most extraordinary man‑made structures they knew, describing them as "must‑see marvels" of their time. They are:

• Colossus of Rhodes

• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

• Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

• Lighthouse of Alexandria

• Great Pyramid of Giza

• Statue of Zeus at Olympia

• Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Stay tuned for more ancient wonders in 2026