Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

              The temple of Artemis was a temple that rebuild three times in ancient Turkey and is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The reasons were mob, fire, and flood. The temple was built to honor Artemis, one of the three maidens of the goddess of Olympus. Artemis was an Olympian god and the daughter of Zeus and Leto. The temple was once served as a cultic place to worship for the Greek goddess Atermis, while other times it was used as a marketplace. In 800 B.C. the first temple built and it took 10 years to built it. It was built around a marhsy strip near the river of Ephesus which is now present day Turkey. In 750 B.C. the first version of the temple was destroyed due to either a flood while other people believed it was due to a war. 

     

Floor plans of each temple when they rebuilt it. 

               

Then, they built the second temple around 550 B.C. by the architects Cherisphron and his son Metagenes who were Cretan. The second version of the temple was approximately four times larger in area than the previous one. The architects made high stone columns but Cherisphron was afraid that the would break so he ordered his workers to put the columns into its right place. The materials they mostly used for to build the temple is mainly marble.The second version of the temple was destroyed by a man named Herostratus. Herostratus set the temple on fire because he wanted to put his name to fame in history. But if anyone mentioned his name that he set the temple on fire, they would get sentenced to death. Also, what happened that day is the when Herostratus set the temple on fire is the day Alexander the Great was born. 

Temple Of Artemis Ruins

               Years later after the temple was destroyed, Alexander the great visited Ephesus and he offered to help rebuild the temple the third time but with one condition, to make sure they put his name on the temple. The townspeople were so upset about the offering that they did not engrave his name on the temple. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., the temple was finally rebuilt. The third time the temple was built, the size was approximately 450 feet long and 225 feet wide. The height was 60 feet and had at least 127 columns. But then in 268 A.D. years later, a tribe of East Germany called the Goths, destroyed the temple once more. This version of the temple lasted more than 600 years. 

             The temple of Artemis was never rebuilt after it was destroyed by the goths. The reason being is because the cost was too high. In 401 A.D., a man named St. John Chrysostom ordered the people to torn down the temple. Now where the temple once stood, its now a swamp. Some of the pieces of the temple can be seen in a British museum in England. Building back then was a lot harder then it is as of today. 

Works Cited:
[1] http://www.crystalinks.com/templeofartemis.html

[2] Dinsmoor, William Bell, and William J. Anderson. The Architecture of Ancient Greece; an Account of Its Historic Development.