The Basilica of Saint John was built by Justinian I between 548 and 565 to house the tomb of St. John. It was modeled after the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. It replaced an earlier, smaller basilica built by Theodosius I. Justinian’s basilica measured 428 by 213 feet while Theodosius’ basilica was 246 by 146 feet. Building material came from Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis. The Basilica of Saint John became an important pilgrimage site for Christians but was no longer mentioned by the 9th century. It was destroyed in an earthquake in the 14th century. The ruins were used to construct the Isa Bey Mosque down the hill.

The Temple of Artemis, also called Artemesium, temple at Ephesus, now in western Turkey, that was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. The great temple was built by Croesus, king of Lydia, about 550 BCE and was rebuilt after being burned by a madman named Herostratus in 356 BCE. The Artemesium was famous not only for its great size, over 350 by 180 feet (about 110 by 55 meters) but also for the magnificent works of art that adorned it. The temple was destroyed by invading Goths in 262 CE and was never rebuilt. Little remains of the temple (though there are many fragments, especially of sculptured columns, in the British Museum). Excavation has revealed traces of Croesus’s and the 4th-century temple and three earlier smaller ones.

Ephesus Museum, the majority of the work comes from the excavations of the ancient city of Ephesus, St. Jean Church, Belevi Grave Monument and other archaeological sites in the vicinity. The museum is a rich local archeology museum with very important artifacts for Ephesus and Anatolian archeology. Artifacts exhibited in the museum start from 6000 BC and go back to the Chalcolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods.