Terrace Houses in Ephesus

The Terrace Houses stand on the slope opposite the Temple of Hadrian and show how the wealthy part of Ephesus lived. Six residential complexes, divided into apartments of various sizes, were built in the first century AD on the site of earlier buildings and remained inhabited until the seventh century. The layout follows the scheme of a Roman town house: the rooms are grouped around an open peristyle courtyard with columns and a pool, while the bedrooms and reception halls are arranged on two levels. The houses were connected to a water supply and a sewerage system, and some of the rooms were heated with hot air passing through cavities in the floors and walls. The walls are covered with frescoes showing architectural trompe-l'oeil, scenes from theatrical plays and portraits of muses and philosophers, and the floors are laid with mosaics in geometric and plant patterns. One of the apartments has preserved a hall faced with marble and glass mosaic. Excavations have been under way since the 1960s; the site has been covered with a light roof, and glass walkways have been laid between the floors, from which several levels of the buildings can be seen at once.

On the map