Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

One of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Six of the ancient wonders were constructed by the Greeks and the most amazing of the Greek structures was The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; constructed at the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor, circa 356 BCE, under the supervision of the engineer/architect Khersiphron (Chersiphron).

The temple was gigantic by Greek standards and was larger than the Parthenon at Athens or the Temple of Zeus at Olympia; the site of the temple was once occupied by another, smaller, temple but the original structure was utterly destroyed in 356 BCE by fire when a man named Herostratus set fire to the wooden roof; the flames were so intense that the building, although made of marble, was ruined; Herostratus is reputed to have bragged that he would be remembered long after the men who had built the temple had been forgotten.

The new temple was constructed on the same site and, although the proposed design was traditional, the scope and budget surpassed any previous construction project except for those in Egypt and Babylon; the new temple was a massive structure and measured 425 feet (130 meters) in length and 225 feet (78 meters) wide; the 60 foot columns were set on a 10 foot base and surmounted by a wooden roof that added another 20 feet (6 meters) to the overall height; the base of the temple had fourteen pairs of columns on each side and six pairs on each end.

A gold and ivory statue of Artemis was the centerpiece of the temple but there were numerous other statues decorating the interior and exterior; the building was surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens and glades full of wild beasts suitable for the habitat of the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis.

The temple supported a large staff of musicians as well as a choir and was well financed by Persian and Greek benefactors; the temple was a magnet for travelers and pilgrims not only because of its grandiose beauty but also because of its location in Asia Minor rather than on the Greek mainland; Persians, Greeks and Europeans revered the goddess, Artemis, and found a commonality in her worship.

The city of Ephesus was devoted to the goddess and each spring there was a festival in her honor where contributions of jewels, gold, silver, silk and other valuable gifts were presented to the priests and priestesses of the goddess; the city of Ephesus and the temple were plundered in 262 CE by the Goths and, as a result, the temple was rebuilt but never restored to its former grandeur; finally, in 401 CE, the Patriarch of Constantinople supervised the utter destruction of the temple; the remaining temple artifacts were looted and the massive stones were used to build churches and civic buildings.

After hundreds of years of peaceful splendor, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus became relegated to the mist of legend and the once powerful symbol of Greek culture was doomed to be lost in time until the ruins were finally excavated in 1858 CE by the English engineer, John T. Wood.