John, and the ‘Council Church’ because the Council of Ephesus is thought to have been held here. By the 7th century the seat of the bishop was transferred to St John’s Basilica but the Church of Mary continued to be used well into the Middle Ages.įollowing the great spread of Christianity, around 300A.D. It is also known as the ‘Double Church’, as it is believed one aisle was dedicated to the Virgin and the other to St. The Church of Mary, a short walk from the main centre of Ephesus, became renowned as the site of the 3rd Ecumenical Council (Mary as Mother of God) 431A.D and was rebuilt several times in the late Byzantine period. where he wrote his gospels and letters, he died in Ephesus, aged 100. He was exiled for his preaching to the island of Patmos in 81A.D. So did the Virgin Mary live here? It is generally believed that as Jesus was dying on the cross he entrusted the care of his mother to his disciple John and so when John travelled to Ephesus in about 44A.D.Mary came with him. There is clear evidence that John was in Asia from 67A.D. In addition to what is written in the new testament of the Bible there are many references to the Virgin Mary (known as Maryam) in the Koran. Mohammed is said to have named Mary (Maryam), the mother of Jesus, ‘as the best woman to ever live’. It is known as fact that everything below the red line on the building’s exterior walls dates back to the 1st century, above it is mostly 4th and 7th century, the most recent restoration was in 1951.Įverything below the red line dates to the first century building, when The Virgin Mary lived. When you stand within the silence of its ancient, stone walls there is a sense of calm and serenity, maybe because of its immense age or maybe because it truly is somewhere divine…… The chapel of the Virgin Mary was built on the original foundations of what is believed to be the house of the Virgin Mary. This statue is on the road which leads to the chapel. It has become an important pilgrimage site for thousands. The house where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived, now the Chapel of The Virgin Mary, is situated in the hills just a few miles above Ephesus. Whether this chapel stands on the foundations of the home of the Mother is Jesus is open to debate. Cleopatra, with her then husband Marc Anthony, spent a winter in Ephesus and there is clear evidence that both St John and the Apostle Paul were in Ephesus. Whatever your beliefs, the fact that these people existed, Cleopatra, Marc Anthony, Mary, the mother of Jesus, John the Apostle and St Paul is hard to dispute. Listen again, hear the cheering, the applause.įeel the brush of long robes as people hurry passed.ĭecide for yourself Chapel of The Virgin Mary Listen, only the shrill twitter of bird song breaks the silence. Stand among the evidence, the tumbled down ruins of lost civilizations, the broken columns. History ~ others’ interpretation of the past?įaith ~ the cause of so much debate, so much pain, so much joy. Did these people really walk where I am standing?Ĭleopatra, Marc Anthony, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, John the Apostle, Saint Paul?ĭid they live here, on these same lush hillsides, amidst the olive groves and fig trees?ĭid they feel the same warm breeze upon their face and gaze up at the same brilliant blue sky?