Church of Mary

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The Church of Mary (Turkish: Meryem Kilisesi) is an ancient Christian church dedicated to Virgin Mary, located in Ephesus, Turkey. It is also known as the Councils Church because of the two councils of importance to the history of early Christianity assumed to be held within. The church is located in the south stoa of the Olympieion (Temple of Hadrian Olympios) next to the harbor of Ephesus.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 Resources 4 External links

[edit] History

The church is dated to early 5th century, coinciding with the Council of Ephesus or the Third Ecumenical Council held in 431, suggesting that it could be built specifically for the council, during which the proper style of address for the Virgin Mary was also discussed. Latest archaeological evidence suggests that the church is built in the ruins of an earlier Roman basilica-like building abandoned around the 3rd century. Around 500, the church was expanded into a monumental cathedral, parts of whose apse and pillars still standing today on the site.

The church served as a cathedral as the seat of the Bishop of Ephesus throughout Late Antiquity.

[edit] See also

• Seven churches of Asia
• House of the Virgin Mary, also in Ephesus, believed to be the place where Virgin Mary lived until the Assumption

[edit] Resources

• Stefan Karweise, The Church of Mary and the Temple of Hadrian Olympios. Helmut Koester, ed., Ephesos: Metropolis of Asia (Harvard University Press, 1995), 311-20.

[edit] External links

• The "Marienkirche" (Church of Holy Mary) in Ephesos, information on the official site of the archaeological excavations conducted by the Austrian Insitute of Archaeology

Coordinates: 37°56′41.78″N, 27°20′21.13″E