The view is along Curetes Street, a main street in Ephesus, in a northwesterly direction. In the distance is the Library of Celsus. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city located on the coast of Ionia in Izmir Province, near present-day Kusadasi, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era it was one of twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republik in 129 BC. According to estimates Ephesus had a population of 33,600 to 56,000 people in the Roman period, making it the third largest city of Roman Asia Minor after Sardis and Alexandria Troas. There is evidence that Ephesus and the surrounding area was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age (about 6,000 BC). Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at the Ayassluk Hill. In 1954, a burial ground from the Mycenaean era (1,500-1,400 BC) with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. The city reached its zenith during the Greek and Roman periods. Among other great buildings, Ephesus had an open-air theater which was capable of holding about 24,000 which was initially used for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage. A gladiator graveyard was found in May 2007. The population of Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes, to supply different areas of the city, including 4 major aqueducts. They fed a multiple set of water mills, one of which has been identified as a sawmill for marble. The city and some of its prominent buildings were destroyed by the Goths in 263 AD. This marked the decline of the city's splendor. During the Byzantine era (395-1308) the emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected a new public bath. Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. The importance of the city as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the river despite repeated dredging during the city's history. Today the harbor is 5 kilometers inland. Ephesus was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. Sackings by the Arabs first in the years 654-655 by caliph Muawiyah I, and later in 700 and 716, hastened the decline further. Ephesus was eventually completely abandoned in the 15th century. Today it is an active archaeological site with about 15 percent excavated and partially restored (Sources: Lonely Planet:Turkey 7th edition; Wikipedia; local tour guide): This picture was taken on 2 July 2013, Sig...