The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

This splendid Greek temple was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built in 550 B.C. and destroyed in 356 B.C. due to arson , caused by a shepherd named Erostrato , in order to achieve fame at any cost , which certainly got up today. Alexander ( born on the same day of the fire temple ) shoots rebuild and it was done in 323 BC It was finally destroyed by the Goths in the sack of the city in the year 262 AD

The city of Ephesus is located in what is now Turkey , was one of the most important trading ports in Asia Minor. There Ionians had settled in the ninth century BC aproximandamente .

The inhabitants of the city worshiped Cybele with the assimilation of Greek culture was transformed into Artemis , goddess from the union of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo, was goddess of the hunt and wild animals. It was also the goddess of childbirth , of nature and crops.

The architect of the temple would be the Cretan Quersifron , although in the 120 years building several arquietctos Suro in front of it happen .

The temple is completely destroyed but Pliny makes a description of it , indicating that it was built in marble mostly and had 127 columns 18 meters high , was about 115 meters wide and 55 long, counting on his forehead with a triple row of eight columns , nine on the bottom and 21 on the sides. Inside the cella also be divided into three naves by columns . The total height of the temple would be nothing more and nothing less than twenty meters. To enter the temple you had to climb a staircase with 10 steps , so the temple rested on a platform.

The roofs and trusses were made of cedar wood and the doors leading to the cella of cypress wood decorated with gold .

Inside the sanctuary of Artemis statue , a work of two meters high , made ​​of wood with decorations in silver and gold is kept .

Plant Temple of Artemis at Ephesus