Temple of Artemis

Temple of Artemis tickets and tours: which one to book

The site of the Temple of Artemis, on the edge of Selcuk, is an open field that you can visit freely, so there is no ticket to book for it alone. It is sold online almost entirely as a stop on tours of Ephesus, the ancient city about 2 km away, whose own entrance ticket is far the bigger expense. The tours come in several forms. Half-day tours from Kusadasi, timed for cruise passengers, cover Ephesus with a quick stop at the temple site; full-day tours add the House of the Virgin Mary on the hill above, sometimes the Basilica of St John and the archaeological museum in Selcuk, plus lunch.

Similar day trips run from Izmir and from Bodrum, which involves a long drive of more than three hours each way. Some are private tours with a guide meeting you at the port, and a few promise faster entry to Ephesus with tickets bought in advance. What matters when comparing them is whether the Ephesus ticket is included, as it often is not in the cheapest offers, and whether the Terrace Houses, which carry a separate fee, are part of the visit. A guide is worth having at Ephesus itself; for the temple you need only a few minutes and some imagination. If you are staying in Selcuk, you can walk to the site from the town centre, and visit Ephesus independently by taxi or on foot.

Visiting Temple of Artemis: what to see and how to behave

This was once the Artemision, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a vast marble temple to the Ephesian form of Artemis, a mother goddess and protector of the city. Today little stands above ground: a marshy hollow, flooded for much of the year, with the scattered blocks of the foundations and a single column reassembled from fragments, on top of which storks often nest in spring. The power of the place lies in knowing what was here. The site was sacred long before the Greeks arrived, and a succession of temples rose on it. An early version was swept away by flood in the seventh century BC; around 550 BC the architect Chersiphron, with money from the Lydian king Croesus, built a huge colonnaded temple that was burned down in 356 BC by Herostratus, who wanted his name to be remembered.

The Ephesians rebuilt it on the same plan and even greater scale, and this last version, with its forest of tall Ionic columns and sculpted drums, was damaged in the raids of the third century AD and then quarried for building stone as Christianity spread. To understand what you are looking at, look up the hill to the Basilica of St John and the Isa Bey Mosque, where blocks and columns from the temple were reused, and visit the Ephesus Museum in Selcuk, which displays the famous statues of the many-breasted Artemis. Some of the finest carved column drums are in the British Museum in London. The site is a short walk west of Selcuk centre along the road to Ephesus; there are no facilities beyond a few souvenir stalls, and the ground can be muddy.

Temple of Artemis: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The site can be seen at any reasonable time of day, as the column and foundations are visible from the fenced edge. Early morning and late afternoon are the best moments, with soft light on the column and the hills, and the chance of seeing storks and other birds around the water. In the middle of the day, tour coaches pause here briefly on their way to and from Ephesus. Spring, from April to early June, is the ideal season: green fields, nesting storks and comfortable temperatures for walking around Ephesus.

Autumn is also pleasant. July and August are very hot in the Aegean lowlands, and Ephesus itself is crowded with cruise passengers from late morning. In winter the hollow is often flooded, which some find atmospheric. Allow 20 to 30 minutes at the temple site. Combine it with Ephesus, the Basilica of St John, the Isa Bey Mosque and the museum, all within easy reach of Selcuk, and with an evening meal in the old village of Sirince in the hills nearby.