Ephesus (Turkish Efes) was a city of ancient Anatolia. During the period known as Classical Greece it was located in Ionia, where the Cayster River flows into the Aegean Sea.

Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia cited in the Book of Revelation.[1] The Gospel of John might have been written here.[2] It is also the site of a large gladiator graveyard.

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), which was destroyed by the Goths in 263. The emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected a new public bath. The town was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614. The importance of the city as a commercial center declined as the harbor slowly filled with silt from the river.

Ephesus was eventually completely abandoned in the 15th century presumably due to disease.