Ancient Ionian Greek city; its ruins lie near the modern village of Selçuk in western Turkey.
It was situated south of the Cayster River and was the site of the Temple of Artemis . Traditionally founded by the Carians, it was one of the 12 Ionian Cities and was involved in the Persian and Alexander the Great с 334 BC and prospered throughout the Hellenistic period. It passed to Rome in 133 BC and under the emperor {{link=Augustus, Caesar">Augustus became the capital of the Roman province of Asia. It was an early seat of Christianity, which was visited by St. Paul ; the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians was directed to the residents of the city. The Goths destroyed the city and temple in AD 262; neither ever recovered. There are extensively excavated ruins at the modern site.