1450
Early travelogues
The location of Ephesos has been known since time immemorial, as many buildings have never been completely buried. Numerous travellers describe and draw the ancient ruins, e.g. Cyriacus of Ancona or Evliya Çelebi.
1863
First excavation
In 1863, the English railway engineer John Turtle Wood makes numerous sondages. On behalf of the British Museum, he searches for the Artemision, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
1865
Uncovering numerous buildings
Wood suspected the sanctuary of Artemis in the Hellenistic-Roman district. In the course of his excavations, numerous buildings such as the Bouleuterion, the so-called Tomb of Luke and the Great Theatre were at least partially uncovered.
1870
Discovery of the Artemision
1870 J. T. Wood discovers the Temple of Artemis. However, due to the poor state of preservation and the lack of finds, his sponsors ended their support. In 1874, Wood had to stop his work.
1893
Otto Benndorf
In 1893, Otto Benndorf, an archaeologist at the University of Vienna, proposes Ephesos excavations to the imperial-royal Ministry of Culture. At this time, Germany was celebrating major scientific discoveries in Troy and the British in Egypt. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy is therefore also looking for a representative archaeological excavation.
1895
Start of the Austrian excavation
With the approval of the Austrian emperor and a generous donation of 10,000 guilders from Karl Mautner Ritter von Markhof, one of the largest archaeological undertakings in modern-day Turkey begins. On 20 May, Otto Benndorf starts his excavation ‒ first in the Artemision, then on the castle hill of today's Selçuk, the Ayasoluk.
1896
Building an expedition house
An expedition house is built in nearby Selçuk. It still serves as a base for the excavation team today.
1898
Establishment of the OeAI
In response to the extremely successful excavations in Ephesos, the Austrian Archaeological Institute is founded and begins its work in 1898. Its first director is Otto Benndorf.
1903
Discovery of the Parthian Monument
Even in the early years, archaeologists made sensational finds, such as the Parthian Monument in 1903. It was erected in the early years of the reign of Antoninus Pius (approx. between 141 and 145 AD) and is now largely housed in the Ephesos Museum in Vienna.
1906
1910
Research across the centuries
The approach of the first excavators is a very modern one. They wanted to record the topography of the city and its development over the centuries. Not only the Greco-Roman monuments are taken into account, but also Islamic ones.
1926
Resumption after the First World War
After the interruption caused by the First World War, excavations were resumed in 1926. The focus is on the Bath-Gymnasium complex and Christian monuments such as St Mary's Church, St John's Basilica and the Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers.
1954
Exposure of entire urban areas
From 1937 to 1953, archaeological work was interrupted by the Second World War. In the following decades, entire areas of the city were excavated with great labour and machinery. Franz Miltner and Fritz Eichler are in charge of the excavations.
Curetes Street
The »resurrection« of Ephesos as a ruined city and tourist attraction began in the 1950s with the uncovering of the city's most important arterial road, the Curetes Street.
1957
1969
Development into a large-scale enterprise
Under director of excavations Hermann Vetters in particular, the Ephesos excavation developed into a major undertaking. However, the intensive excavation activities also raise questions about the preservation of the uncovered monuments.
1978
Re-erection of the Celsus Library
After almost ten years of work, the re-erection of the Celsus Library was completed in 1978.
1990
New focal points
In the 1990s, the focus of research shifted from large-scale excavations to processing and publication activities. Today, the most modern and in some cases non-destructive methods are used for field research and only targeted excavations are carried out.
1999
Protective roof for the Terrace House
Shortly after the discovery of Terrace House 2, it was decided to leave the painting and mosaic decoration in place. In 1999/2000, an adequate protective roof was erected under the excavation management of Friedrich Krinzinger. Since then, the antique residential complex has been open to the public.
2025
Tourist attraction
Ephesos is the most visited archaeological site in Turkey. Around 4 million people visit the antique ruins every year. The high number of visitors is both a challenge and an opportunity. However, the great interest in the ruins makes Ephesos well known and leads to a high level of acceptance of the scientific endeavour among the public.
Modern research
Today, Ephesos is a large excavation company whose tasks include basic archaeological research as well as monument protection, student training and knowledge transfer. The central objective of archaeology is to reconstruct the complex settlement history of the antique metropolis, which was characterised by human and natural interventions.The photos of the excavation by J. T. Wood are provided with the kind permission of the Beazley Archive