Daily Ephesus & Pamukkale Tour From Kuşadası

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Ancient Ephesus, located in the Aegean Cost of Turkey, is one of the most attractive, big and old tourist destinations in the world. Ancient Ephesus is visited by a million of tourists every year. It was the capital of Romans in Asia Minor 2000 years ago. After the excavations it became a huge open air museum where the most important Roman works and art can be seen. There are two gates in Ephesus; upper gate and lower gate. There is a gentle slope, so Ephesus tours start at the top gate and finish at the lower gate. Ephesus is in 20 minutes driving distance to a famous touristic seaboard city called Kusadasi and about 1 hour drive to Izmir which is the 3rd biggest city of Turkey. It is possible to travel to Ephesus via highway, sea road and railway.  For more information please also visit our Ephesus Blog and Ephesus Tours pages.

There are only a few historical facts known about the origin of the city. No traces of the presence of Hittites or Persians have been found. The Phrygians built a temple, probably in the first half of the 7th century BC. This temple, originally used by the citizens of the nearby town of Laodicea, would later form the centre of Hierapolis. Hierapolis was founded as a thermal spa early in the 2nd century BC within the sphere of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus the Great sent 2,000 Jewish families to Lydia and Phrygia from Babylon and Mesopotamia, later joined by more from Judea. The Jewish congregation grew in Hierapolis and has been estimated as high as 50,000 in 62 BC. Hierapolis became a healing centre where doctors used the thermal springs as a treatment for their patients. The city began minting bronze coins in the 2nd century BC. These coins give the name Hieropolis. It remains unclear whether this name referred to the original temple (ἱερόν, hieron) or honoured Hiera, the wife of Telephus, son of Heracles and the Mysian princess Auge, the supposed founder of Pergamon’s Attalid dynasty.[citation needed] This name eventually changed into Hierapolis (“holy city”),. In 133 BC, when Attalus III died, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Hierapolis thus became part of the Roman province of Asia. In AD 17, during the rule of the emperor Tiberius, a major earthquake destroyed the city.

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