This session presents ongoing research on Byzantine Ephesus conducted by the Austrian Archaeological Institute, which represents Austria’s most significant archaeological endeavour in Turkey. The presentations will provide insight into the development of the city’s sacred topography throughout the Byzantine era and its subsequent transition into the Ottoman period. The Byzantine phases of Ephesus and the ancient city’s evolution are characterized by urban restructuring, shifting settlement patterns, urban core contraction, reinforced fortifications, and finally, relocation of the settlement area. Contributors will explore themes pertaining to cult phenomena, veneration practices, and pilgrimage, with particular emphasis on hospitality infrastructures that accommodated the faithful. The research examines performative dynamics manifested in literary sources, religious urban structure, monumental architecture, decorative programs, visual systems, and artefacts that attest to believers’ devotional practices. Analysis of pilgrimage, devotional objects, and relics offers valuable insights into the lived religious experience of Byzantine Ephesians. Of particular scholarly interest is the question of continuity during the transitional phase into the Ottoman period. The presentations elucidate the multifaceted character of Byzantine Ephesus through archaeological evidence, architectural analysis, and material culture studies. This interdisciplinary approach illuminates both the religious significance of the site as a pilgrimage destination and its urban evolution across centuries, thereby contributing to broader scholarly discourse on Byzantine urban centres and their transformation in post-Byzantine contexts.
During the Early Byzantine period, Ephesus emerged as a pivotal centre of Christianity in Asia Minor, profoundly shaped by the veneration of local saints and their relics. While scholarly attention has traditionally focused on the city’s monumental architecture, the cult practices surrounding martyrs and relics offer equally compelling insights into the religious transformation of this…
The material evidence from the Early and Middle Byzantine periods includes a wide range of diverse objects comprising not only jewellery and dress accessories, but also objects and implements as well as everyday equipment of all kinds, some of them with Christian iconography. Various sites in Ephesus during the times in question have already been…
Since classical antiquity, Ephesus had enjoyed the status of an important pilgrimage center, with the cult of Artemis and her temple, considered one of the wonders of the world, at the heart of the cult. However, the city did not lose this status in Christian times. On the contrary, it remained an international pilgrimage destination…
In the Early Byzantine period, Ephesus developed into a major centre of Christian pilgrimage, shaped by the traditions of its local saints. Within the framework of the city’s new Christian identity, a variety of charitable institutions emerged that addressed both the needs of pilgrims and those of the urban population. Such institutions touched on many…
The Grotto of St. Paul is situated approximately 80 meters above sea level on the northern slope of Bülbül Dağ, beyond the delimited excavation perimeter of ancient Ephesus. First documented in 1906 by Otto Benndorf, the site comprises two subterranean chambers of differing dimensions, complemented by a Byzantine-period portico. The interior walls of the larger…