Ephesus: The Church of the Virgin Mary

The elongated nave extending from the door forms the main section of the church and the dome is at the apse. The square space is covered by an octagonal dome. The church which was probably consecrated to Pantenessa has inscriptions, historical scenes and geometrical patterns painted. Of the inscriptions only one is legible. Here the virgin is called “The Queen of Angels”. On the southerm aisle we see the Annunciation, on the northern spandrel, the Visitation and the Nativity in the west, we observe the hommage rendered to the child Christ, and in the north and in the west the death of the Virgin Mary. The scene of Assumption painted on the inner surface of the main large dome is well preserved. On the western aisle is Daniel between two lions. The overall aspect of the frescoes is foreign to the Byzantine art. On a background where cream, earth colour and dark blue alternate, the brush has painted in red, orange, grey, bright green and dark brown.

The ornaments indicate that the artists were masters in their art, although the bodies, the faces and the costumes betray their clumsiness in figurative drawing. Some of these decoration reveal the influence of Arabian art while others seem to be the continuation of the art of the Christian era.

Situated next to the Harbour Corn Exchange, this is the first church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was also where the Third Ecumenical Council was held in 431 A.D., and so is considerably important to the development of Christian dogma.

The building in which it is housed, which is 260 m. in length and 30 m. in width, was used for scientific training, and for the theological training of the priests of Ephesus. The plan is that of a triple naved building, and in the 4th century the church was converted into a basilica with a central nave flanked by two aisles, when an apse was opened in the eastern I wall, and a Baptisterium added to the north side of an atrium to the west of the church. The central nave is the same width as the apse, while the flanking aisles are somewhat smaller. They are separated from the nave by two rows of columns, with geometric-designed balustrade panels between. There are mosaics on the floor of the narthex, to the western tip of the building, decorated with geometrical patterns, while the Atrium, which has one absidal wall is paved with stones of various kinds. The Baptisterium is circular in plan, and contains the baptismal pool in the centre. During the reign of the emperor Justinian (527 -565), further alterations led to the construction of a centrally-planned chapel surmounted by a single dome, between the apse and the narthex of the original church.

The cauldron in the centre was brought there from the Harbour Baths. In the 10th century a further church was added to the eastern front, with a small chapel being added to the southern tip of the church The council meeting held in this church in 431 agreed to accept as dogma the notion that Jesus, the son of the Virgin Mary was also the Son of God.

This church hidden behind a mass of rocks on the left side of the stream. These crossvaulted church is also referred to by the designation of "The Church of Daniel" because of the fresco of Daniel illustrated between two lions on the wall facing the door. The elongated nave extending from the door forms the main section of the church and the dome is at the apse. The square space is covered by an octagonal dome. The church which was probably consecrated to Pantenessa has inscriptions, historical scenes and geometrical patterns painted. Of the inscriptions only one is legible. Here the virgin is called "The Queen of Angels". On the southerm aisle we see the Annunciation, on the northern spandrel, the Visitation and the Nativity in the west, we observe the hommage rendered to the child Christ, and in the north and in the west the death of the Virgin Mary. The scene of Assumption painted on the inner surface of the main large dome is well preserved. On the western aisle is Daniel between two lions. The overall aspect of the frescoes is foreign to the Byzantine art. On a background where cream, earth colour and dark blue alternate, the brush has painted in red, orange, grey, bright green and dark brown .