| The Temple of Artemis at ancient city of Ephesus is located near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir in Turkey. It is referred to as the marble temple. The Temple of Artemis has two variations, Temple D and Temple E. Temple D was founded in the seventh century BC under the sponsorship of the Lydian king Croesus. | |
| | It was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron and decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon. It functioned as a marketplace and a religious institution. Among the many works of art that the Temple housed, were four ancient bronze statues of Amazons.
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Herostratus, on 21 July 356 BC, set the temple on fire to immortalize his name. When Alexander the Great, who was born the same night, conquered Asia Minor, he offered to rebuild the destroyed temple. However it was not restored until after his death in 323 BC. The restored Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is labeled by archeologists as "Temple E".
The Artemis temple at Ephesus was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262. The Ephesians vowed to rebuild but by the fourth century AD, most of them had converted to Christianity and the temple lost its significance. In 401 AD the Temple of Artemis was razed to the ground by St John Chrysostom. Recent attempts at rebuilding have only succeeded in re-erecting a couple of Columns. When St Paul had visited the city in the first century AD, the temple was decorated with golden pillars, silver statuettes and paintings.
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| The temple was a rectangular. The uniqueness of the building lay in the fact that it was made of marble, with a decorated façade overlooking a spacious courtyard. Marble steps led to the high terrace which approximately measured 430 ft. The columns were 60 ft high and had Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. There were 127 columns aligned orthogonally over the whole platform, except for the central cella or house of the goddess. It is not known whether the goddess' statue was placed at the center of the sanctuary, but general practices of the times say that it must have been so. |
Temple of Artemis, however, acquired the status of being a Wonder in 550 BC.
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