Church of Mary: Cathedral of Late Antique Ephesus in Türkiye
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Turkey
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Classical, Medieval
- Civilizations
- Byzantine, Roman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page16 sections
History
The Church of Mary in Selçuk, Türkiye, was the principal church and cathedral of Ephesus during Late Antiquity, the period of the later Roman Empire and the early Byzantine world. It developed from the southern stoa of the Roman Olympieion, a monumental sanctuary dedicated to Zeus Olympios and connected with the imperial cult of the deified emperor Hadrian. The western part of the stoa was adapted for Christian worship in the early fifth century, probably as part of preparations for the Council of Ephesus in 431.
From Roman stoa to Christian sanctuary
The first Christian sanctuary occupied the western end of the abandoned portico. Coins associated with this phase date from 364 to 426, placing the adaptation before the council while indicating that the building was used for only a short time. The sanctuary remained unfinished and was then abandoned. Earlier interpretations placed the church in the fourth century, during the reign of Constantine the Great, but later evidence points to a conversion made specifically in connection with the council. The building became the bishop’s church only afterward.
The Church of Mary hosted the Council of Ephesus in 431, a major Christian council that debated the status of Mary and related questions about Christ. It also hosted the contentious assembly of 449, later known as the Robber Council of Ephesus. An inscription by Bishop Hypatius in the entrance hall identifies the building with the Church of Mary associated with these gatherings.
The cathedral and episcopal complex
A much larger columned basilica was probably erected around 500. Coins from the building provide a terminus post quem, meaning the earliest possible date for its construction, in the period 429 to 491. The basilica probably soon became the cathedral of Ephesus, formally described as “the most holy church of the most holy, most honored, and eternal Virgin Mary.” The Marian dedication cannot have been established before about 500.
An episcopal residence and administrative complex, known as an episkopeion, was probably created in the eastern part of the former stoa around the same time. Literary evidence nevertheless places an episcopal palace at Ephesus as early as the beginning of the fifth century. In 400, Bishop Antoninus was deposed partly because he had taken building materials from the neighboring church for his residence, including columns for a banqueting hall and marble from the baptistery for his baths.
A Syrian Jacobite tradition, not attested before the ninth century, held that the Virgin Mary had stayed in Ephesus and was buried there. The tradition probably helped legitimize the city’s episcopal see, and the church commemorated this association.
Remodeling, decline, and later use
After a major earthquake dated to 557, the complex was probably remodeled into two churches. The eastern building may have served as the episcopal church, while the western domed building probably served a parish community. The double church and episcopal residence appear to have suffered major destruction in connection with the Arab raid of 654 to 655.
After this destruction, the Church of Mary lost its cathedral status to the Basilica of Saint John the Theologian, the traditional Christian designation of the apostle John. The episcopal residence was abandoned, although the eastern church continued in reduced form. Burials increased inside and around both churches. Funerary use continued at least until the eleventh century, while the northern necropolis remained in use in the fourteenth century under the Seljuks, a medieval Turkic dynasty that ruled parts of Anatolia and the Middle East.
Excavation and interpretation
The ruins were discovered and excavated by the Austrian Archaeological Institute during the 1920s. Archaeological investigations resumed in 1986. The remains east of the modern road are presumed to belong to the episcopal palace, helping clarify the relationship between the cathedral and the bishop’s administrative complex.
Remains
The surviving complex occupies the long southern wing of the Roman Olympieion. The former portico measured approximately 263 meters in length and 29 to 30 meters in width. Its outward-facing colonnade divided the interior into three basilica-like aisles, with small rooms containing semicircular recesses at the ends. Christian builders reused this large Roman framework for a sequence of sanctuaries, a cathedral, a baptistery, and later funerary spaces.
Early sanctuary and Roman framework
The southern stoa
The Roman stoa was a covered colonnaded passage enclosing part of the Olympieion precinct. Rows of columns divided its interior into three long aisles, while the end rooms with semicircular recesses probably held statues. The Christian complex retained this basic structure, incorporating Roman architectural elements into later walls, pavements, and supports.
The first Christian sanctuary
The earliest church occupied the western section of the portico. Its central sanctuary contained a presbyterion, the clergy’s worship area, with a semicircular synthronon, or tiered seating for clergy, about 6 meters across. An altar stood in front of it. The sanctuary had no eastern apse, and the building was left unfinished before its brief period of use ended.
The large columned basilica
Main basilica
The later basilica measured approximately 74.5 by 29 meters and had three aisles. Its central nave was 13 meters wide, separated from the side aisles by 40 columns. Roman columns, bases, and capitals were reused throughout the colonnade, while numerous inscriptions from the imperial period were incorporated into the pavement.
The enlarged sanctuary received a substantial eastern apse built entirely from reused elements of the Roman colonnade and faced with marble. Two reused pillars from the eastern chalcidicum, a portico or hall within the Roman complex, flanked the apse. The sanctuary floor had a two-colour opus sectile pavement, a surface made from fitted pieces of cut stone or marble, arranged with a cross motif.
Two small rooms beside the apse served as pastophoria, side rooms used for liturgical preparation or storage. They also gave access to two spiral staircases leading to an upper gallery. At the west end, a transverse narthex, or entrance hall, opened toward a colonnaded courtyard that functioned as an atrium. The courtyard occupied the western end of the Roman basilica, whose apse was retained.
Baptistery
A baptistery was added on the northeast side of the complex. Its exterior was shaped like a small tholos, or circular building, while four horseshoe-shaped niches between its four openings created an octagonal interior. The octagon symbolized perfection. A circular immersion pool was sunk into the center, with a double staircase and an east-west orientation. Marble revetment, or wall facing, survives in parts of the structure.
The double church
Eastern church
Following the probable earthquake destruction, the eastern part of the basilica was remodeled. Columns in front of the apse were replaced with masonry pillars, and a transverse narthex divided the earlier nave, reducing its length to 23 meters. The remodeled area soon became a privileged burial space, initially reserved for members of the clergy.
During the second half of the sixth century, the sanctuary enclosure and the synthronon were altered several times. An ambo, a raised platform for readings or preaching, was probably added around 600 in the middle of the nave outside the raised sanctuary. A solea, a narrow raised walkway, connected it to the templon, the screen separating the sanctuary from the nave. Later, the eastern church was reduced to its central nave by closing the openings between the pillars.
Western domed church
A second church was built farther west within the former main nave, 28 meters from the earlier church’s eastern end. Constructed entirely of brick, it measured 37 meters in length and retained the earlier width of 29 meters. Its side aisles were narrower, and four massive pillars supported a dome over the central nave.
Small apsidal annexes beside the main apse served as pastophoria. The new church received a second narthex, while the earlier narthex remained as its exonarthex, or outer entrance hall. A passage of uncertain date was later cut through the western church’s apse to connect with the narthex of the eastern church. The atrium and baptistery were not radically altered.
Funerary areas
A small chapel was built outside the complex against the southeast wall, probably in connection with the continuing funerary use of the churches. Tombs were placed inside both buildings and in their immediate surroundings. Glazed pottery from the northern necropolis indicates that burial activity continued into the fourteenth century.
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