The Church of St. Mary at Ephesos: Retracing the Phases of Construction

The building history of the church of St. Mary at Ephesos is evocative of both change and continuity. Some aspects of the monument enjoyed a remarkable longevity, making it one of the rare ‘golden threads’ that connect Late Antique and Medieval Ephesos. On the other hand, the same building displays all the characteristics of an architectural palimpsest. In its millennial history from the Roman origins to a presumed destruction after the eleventh century, the monument’s site was repeatedly modified. As a result, today’s explorer of the significant archaeological remains of St. Mary’s is confronted with the overlapping layers of walls and supports that fail to form a coherent picture. Although major parts of the church have been excavated and surveyed, the question concerning the date and form of its phases remains open. The present paper will attempt to shed new light on the early phases of the church. It studies they the fifth-century transformation of a major Roman building into an Early Christian basilica and the subsequent reconstruction of part of this basilica as a domed church. This paper does not present new archaeological evidence. It is rather based on the realisation that some of the evidence that has already been published has either been misinterpreted or overlooked. The aim of the paper is to review, synthesise and reinterpret all the evidence published since the 1930s. Grouped together for the first time, and interpreted from an architectural standpoint, these clues provide new insights into the history of the monument.