According to the old legends, Ephesus was founded by the female warriors known as the Amazons. The name of the city is thought to have been derived from APASAS, the name of a city in the KINGDOM OF ARZAWA meaning the city of the Mother Goddess. Carians and Lelegians are to be have been among the citys first inhabitants. Ionian migrations are said to have begun in around 1200 B.C. According to legend, the city was founded for the second time by Androclus, the son of Codrus, king of Athens, on the shore at the point where the CAYSTER (Küçük Menderes) empties into the sea, a location to which they had been guided by a fish and a wild boar on the advice of the soothsayersThe region was devastated during the Cimmerian invasion at the beginning of the 7th century B.C. Under the rule of the Lydian kings.. Under the donination of Roman Empire, Ephesus remarkably thrived in porsperity which was parly stemming from ist commercial clout. The historian Aristio describes Ephesus as being recognised by all the inhabitants of the region as the most important trading centre in Asia. It was also the leading political and intellectual centre, with the second school of philosophy in the Aegean. Moreveri the cult of Artemis which sprang from Ephesus and blossomed to an apex of worship added much to the privileged status of the city.. Ephesus known to be one of the most well-preserved antique cities in Turkey is highly remarkable with its impressive Celcius Library, marble roads, Roman Baths, temples and fountains.. Namely these parts and sections are: Kuretes Street, The Basilica, The Agora, Hadrian Gate, Temple of Domitian, Baths of Varius, Celcius Library, The latrine.

The resolutions of the council of 431 held that the Virgin Mary came to Ephesos. According to them, she came here together with Saint John, four to six years after the death of Christ. After the proclamation of Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II came to Ephesos and declared the House of Mary to be a place of pilgrimage for Christians. The house on the top of Bülbüldağ is believed to be the last home of the Virgin Mary. It is a world-famous place of pilgrimage. The structure is a church that dates to the seventh century, and was restored in 1951. The church was supposedly built on top of the house in which the Virgin Mary lived. The structure is cruciform, and has a domed roof. The nave and its apse are accessible from the vestibule. The House of Mary is a place of pilgrimage not only for Christians, but also for Muslims.