Temple of Artemis

Down the back of a side street, at the bottom of a dusty hill, is a nondescript car park and a lowly column in a field. This was once the great Temple of Artemis, also known as The Artemision. This massive temple near the ancient city of Ephesus was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and brought much fame to the city.

Although little remains of the temple today, The Artemision earned Ephesus the title "Servant of the Goddess". Completed in 550BCE, it was estimated to be four times larger than the Panthenon. It was as big as a football field, took 120 years to build, and had over 100 pillars, each at 30m tall. It was described at the time by the poet Antipater of Sidon:

“I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand".”

Despite there being just fragments left of this grand piece of architecture, they point to the human capacity for ingenuity and hard work. We’re feeling truly fortunate to have been able to see three of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World this year.