Günaltay explains that silk and incense shops once lined the street, and flowering trees shaded sumptuously dressed pedestrians from the blazing sun. Oval holes in the walls once held lamps to light the street after dark. Summertime night tours have recently been introduced, which aim to help visitors imagine how the city once felt after sunset.
The Temple of Hadrian, a modest-sized Corinthian-style structure facing Curetes Street, is among the most elegant buildings in Ephesus. Completed in 138 CE with a wooden roof, its ornate eight-meter-tall arches still stand nearly 2,000 years later. The inner arch features a relief of Medusa, the snake-headed female figure in Greek or Roman mythology, used here to ward off evil spirits.
At the bottom of the hill stands the city’s star attraction and most photographed landmark: the Library of Celsus. While you should never judge a book by its cover, only the facade of this 56-foot-tall Roman masterpiece survives. Blue squares of sky cut through the empty windows, while tapered marble columns create an optical illusion that makes the two-story structure even grander.
More than 12,000 scrolls were once stored inside this second-century center of learning before a fire destroyed them in 262 CE. The building was also a monumental tomb, constructed by Consul Gaius Julius Aquila in honor of his father, Gaius Julius Celus Polemeanus, who is buried here.
Brothel advertisement
The less cerebral side of life is visible just across the street. The remains of a brothel sit opposite the library, and a nearby carving on a paving stone on Curetes Street is believed to be one of the world’s earliest advertisements. Featuring the outline of a foot, a money purse, and a woman, it suggests that visitors with adult-sized feet and sufficient funds could purchase the services offered there — an early version of the “you must be this tall to ride” signs at theme parks.
Built around the 1st century CE, the brothel includes a ground-floor reception area and bathing pool, with an upper story for entertaining clients. A statue of Priapus, the Greek and Roman fertility god traditionally depicted with an outsize phallus, was found during excavation work here and is now on display in the Ephesus Museum in nearby Selçuk.
Romans are renowned for their engineering skills, even when it came to handling sewage. At the city’s public latrines, 36 holes upon which people took their comfort breaks line the walls above a drainage system. It’s believed those using them cleaned themselves afterward using a xylospongium — a sponge on a stick, dipped in vinegar.
The latrines formed part of the Scholastica Baths, the city’s largest bathing complex, capable of accommodating up to 1,000 people, and an important social center.
.gif)
0 Comments