The Basilica of St John

Justinian built a cathedral over what Ephesus believed was the grave of the apostle John. The floor plan alone is worth the climb.

Checked 24 Aug 20261 min readCaicos Travel guiding team

The Basilica of St John stands on Ayasuluk hill in Selçuk, built in the sixth century under Justinian over the traditional burial place of the apostle John. Much of the plan, the columns and the marked tomb survive. Entry is €6 and it is about 3 km from the archaeological site.

When the harbour failed and Ephesus began climbing the hill, this is where it climbed to.

What it was

Ephesus held that the apostle John spent his last years in the city and was buried on this hill. A small memorial church stood over the grave from the fourth century; in the sixth, Justinian replaced it with something enormous — a cross-shaped basilica with six domes, one of the largest churches of its age.

The tomb is marked in the floor at the crossing, and it is the reason for everything around it. Pilgrims came here in numbers for six hundred years.

What survives

More than you expect. The plan is legible at full size, a good number of columns are standing, the baptistery is intact enough to walk into, and the treasury and the courtyard are clear. It was partially reconstructed in the twentieth century, marked where the work is modern.

The hill also carries the Ayasuluk fortress above and the İsa Bey Mosque below, and from the terrace you look straight down onto the Temple of Artemis and out across the plain towards Ephesus.

Practical

€6 for foreign visitors, covered by the Museum Pass
in Selçuk, a ten-minute walk uphill from the otogar
allow forty-five minutes
exposed and hot in the afternoon, and the ground is uneven

Worth it?

With half a day in Selçuk, yes. It finishes the story that the end of Ephesus starts: this is the town the city became.

A Greek hill village above Selçuk — and an honest word about the fruit wine.

The Ephesus Archaeological Museum, SelçukNearby The Cave of the Seven SleepersNearby The House of the Virgin MaryNearby The Temple of Artemis: what is actually leftNearby