Ephesus is already a highly popular tourist destination and since it was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2015 plans have been place to make it accessible once again from the Sea – something that the ancient city hasn’t seen for over 2500 years.
As shown by evidence from the excavations in the nearby village of Höyük Ephesus had been inhabited since the Neolithic Age becoming a highly important city for the Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans. Many wars were fought here, and almost all of it’s inhabitants left their mark with a plethora of historical sites & ruins such as The Library of Celsus, The Temple of Artemis, The Temple of Hadrian, The Theatre of Ephesus, The Tomb of John the Apostle, House of the Virgin Mary & The Gate of Augustus.
The project to re-unite the ancient city with the sea, is called The ‘Ancient Ephesus Canal Project’ and there’s around three months left to completion of the first phase. Once finished it will allow boats to travel along the waterway to the city, which is expected to increase tourism even further and make Ephesus one of the most visited sites in Turkiye. There are two phases in total to the build, the first phase offers a 600m long canal entrance & a Marina and the second phase will go from Paduca Beach to Ephesus Harbour. In terms of raw materials, it’s a substantial project with around 1430 bored piles already placed + 7,000 sqm of marble coating work with a further 3000 sqm to go. On top of that there’s a concrete production of walkways & landscaping of the whole area.
As the old harbour began to build up with silt from the Cayster River, the importance of Ephesus gradually declined, however these new works will once again make it an area of utmost significance, bringing thousands more people back to its ancient streets.
