Welcome to Ephesus! My name is Aphrodisia, and I am one of the priestesses here. I am happy to show you around the Temple of Artemis. No flash photography please, and remember to stop by the gift shop after the tour.

The temple was built around 550 BCE, and was designed by Greek architect Chersiphron for King Croesus of Lydia. This temple is built on the foundations of other temples that also honored the goddess Artemis. It is 377 feet long and 180 feet wide. The first thing many visitors notice are the many columns. There are 127, 60 foot tall columns. But we'll take a closer look at these once we're inside the temple itself.

From this vantage point, we can get a good look at the podium the temple was built on. A plinth of 13 steps lead visitors up and into the temple itself. Podiums help accentuate the temple's height, and they are common throughout classical Roman and Greek architecture. The podium, and the temple itself are marble. In fact, the Temple is thought to be the first building made almost entirely of marble. Just a little tidbit for you trivia hounds!