Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, whose photo today depicts only a few columns, is rightfully considered one of the wonders of the ancient world.
According to legend, Artemis - the twin sister of Apollo - took care of animals and plants, cared for livestock and wild animals, could cause the growth of trees, flowers and shrubs. She did not deprive her attention and people, giving them happiness in the family and blessing for the birth of children. Women often brought her victims as the patroness of procreation.

The first temple of Artemis was built in the sixth century BC in the Greek town of Ephesus, which is currently the Turkish province of Izmir. In the middle of the fourth century BC. He was burned by Herostratus, then restored and again destroyed by Gothic barbarians.

The temple of Artemis stood on the site of the sanctuary of the Karian goddess, the patroness of fertility that was in this area. Funds for its construction were donated by the famous Lydian rich man, King Creas, whose inscriptions have been preserved to the bases of the columns, and the project, as Strabo writes, was designed by the architect Hersifron of Knossos. With him, a collonade was erected and the walls were erected, and when he passed away, the construction was continued by his son, and afterwards - the architects Demetrei and Peony.

The huge white-stone temple of Artemis was admired and surprised. Precise information about how exactly he was decorated inside, did not reach us. It is only known that the best masters were engaged in the sculptural decoration of one of the wonders of the Ancient World, and the statue of the goddess was made of ivory and gold.

This sacred place was used not only for religious services and ceremonies, it almost immediately became the business and financial center of the city of Ephesus. Since he was ruled by a board of only priests, he was practically independent of the city government.

In 356 BC, the night when Alexander the Great was born, the vain Gerostratus, wishing to become famous, set this magnificent temple on fire. However, by the beginning of the third century BC the temple of Artemis was completely restored and got its former appearance. The money for reconstruction was allocated by Alexander the Great, and architect Heinokrat conducted the work, which this time raised the building to an even higher base. The size of the temple was impressive: 51 meters in width and 105 - in length. The roof supported 127 columns in eight rows.

Temple of Artemis of Ephesus, whose photo, unfortunately, today depicts only one restored column, decorated with statues and reliefs of Scopas and Praxitel. The Ephesians, in gratitude to Alexander the Great, ordered his portrait, which portrayed the great commander like Zeus - with a lightning in his hand.

And in the middle of the third century, the sanctuary of Artemis was destroyed by the Goths. Later in its place was built a small church, which was also demolished.

Facing marble plates were looted, the roof was dismantled, soon the columns began to fall due to a violation of the unity of the structure. The falling stone blocks eventually sucked up the swamp on which the temple of Artemis was built. A few dozen years later, the place on which stood one of the best architectural works of Ionia, was even forgotten.

For many years it took the English researcher Voodoo to find at least some traces of the temple, and in 1869 he finally got lucky. Work on the opening of the foundation of the temple was completed only in the last century, and at the same time, traces of the columns of the very first version burned by Herostratus were found.