Ephesus Terrace houses
Terrace Houses, an insula inside of Ephesus with the houses of rich people, is located on the north slope of Bülbüldağ Mount. The excavation work started in 1967, and in 1999 a roof was added over entire area and made it look like a separate section inside the open-air museum, ready to receive tourists. There are seven residential units on three terraces. Two-story houses inside of the complex are tipically centred around a peristyle, an inner courtyard. On the lowest terrace, along the Curetes Street, there are workshops and taverns.
In this section, all the houses had running water, and the traces of bathrooms have been found. All houses had heatable rooms. In some cases the upper stories were also equipped with hypocaust heating systems. A public utility network provided internal running water and removed the waste of interior latrines. In addition, cisterns and wells dug into the rock ensured a supply of water to individual households.
The oldest unite was built in the 1st century BC, and continued in use until the 7 century AD. There were 12 rooms on its ground floor, and the total habitable space was 900 square meters. Among the preserved rooms, there is a vestibule, a hall, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a bathtub. In this villa, you can see floor mosaics and beautiful wall frescoes, depicting Herakles, Ariadne, Eros, a peacock, and floral motives.
The rich decoration of the apartments, with wall paintings, mosaics, works of art and marble panelling discovered during archaeological works, are a unique glimpse into the private lives of some of the wealthiest citizens of the ancient city of Ephesus. The collection of ornamental Roman mosaic floors is very well preserved and impressive. Most of the mosaics, dating from the beginning of the 1st century to the first half of the 3rd century, feature geometric black and white patterns. There are few multicolored and figurative mosaics that depict Triton, Nereids, Dionysos, Medusa, and a lion.
Tourists need separate entrance ticket to visit the Terrace Houses and it’s absolutely worth it and makes your Ephesus tour complete.