Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, traditionally called the Artemision, was one of the most famous sanctuaries of the ancient Mediterranean and one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The site lies near Selçuk within the UNESCO World Heritage property of Ephesus. UNESCO traces the sanctuary of the Ephesian Artemis to the second millennium BCE and describes it as one of the ancient world’s largest and most powerful sanctuaries.

Monumental temples were built and rebuilt during the Archaic and later periods, and the cult attracted pilgrims from across the Mediterranean. Ephesian Artemis represented a distinctive local sacred identity with Anatolian as well as Greek elements, rather than simply duplicating the image of Artemis found elsewhere.

Only limited structural remains survive today, so the scale of the sanctuary is understood through archaeology, ancient sources and reconstructed plans rather than an intact temple. UNESCO notes that pilgrimage in the Ephesus region later shifted toward major Christian sites such as the Basilica of St. John.

Templestan records the Artemision as ancient sacred heritage, not as an active contemporary temple. Its documented cult and pilgrimage history are historical subjects; no modern miracle or devotional claim is attached to the surviving ruins.