The City of Change by W. M. Ramsay (Offsite Link)

“At the present day Ephesus has all the appearance of an inland city. The traveller who wanders among its ruins may be at first unconscious of the neighbourhood of the sea. He beholds only a plain stretching east and west, closed in on the north and south by long lines of mountain, Gallesion and Koressos. As he looks to the east he sees only ranges of mountains rising one behind another. As he looks to the west his view from most parts of the city is bounded by a ridge which projects northwards from the long ridge of Koressos into the plain. This little ridge is crowned by a bold fort, called in the modern local tradition, St. Paul's Prison: the fort stands on the hill of Astyages (according to the ancient name), and the ridge contains also another peak on the west, called the Hermaion. The ridge and fort constitute the extreme western defences of the Greek city, which was built about 287 BC. That old Greek tower, owing to its distance and isolation, has escaped intentional destruction, and is one of the best preserved parts of the old fortification. From its elevation of 450 feet it dominates the view, the most striking and picturesque feature of the Greek Ephesus” (Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, Chapter 17).

Please visit our eight-part Ephesians Series by Fred R. Coulter for a complete exegesis of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

On our Holy Days 2000 Page, by following the Pentecost 2000 links,  you may access both audio and transcripts relating the significance of Ephesus to church history. This series by Fred R. Coulter is entitled The Seven Church Harvest.

  • Ephesus, Turkey: Panoramic pictures of Ephesus  This site offers a camera’s eye view spanning the entire city. Ephesus is the best preserved classical city of the Eastern Mediterranean, and one of the best representations of the atmosphere of Roman times.

This site offers a marvelous full-screen picture of the Ancient Library of Ephesus.

 

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