Temple of Artemis

The Temple of Artemis was one of the largest temples built by the Greeks. It was built for Artemis, aka Diana, the goddess of the hunt and nature, around 800 BC. It is famous because of its size, decoration and extensive use of marble. Nearly the entire temple was made from marble.

The temple was located in the Greek city, Ephesus, which is now part of the west coast of Turkey, today. Chersiphron and his son, Metagenes designed the temple. The temple was made entirely of marble, except for the tile covered wooden roof. The temple had 106 columns arranged in a double row encirling an open space. Most of the construction was sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus. It was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time.

The temple served both as a marketplace and a religious institution.

In 356 B.C. Herostratus burned the temple to the ground in an atemmpt to immortalize his name. Strangely enough, Alexander the Great was born the same night. The Roman historian Plutarch later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple". Over the next two decades, the temple was restored and when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple.

The temple was again destroyed by the Goths ins 262 AD and the Ephesians planned to rebuild once again. By the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to Christianity and abandoned the cult of Artemis. The temple was finally torn down in 401 AD by St. John Chrysostom.

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