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The Terrace Houses are an extra attraction in the ancient city of Ephesus, a UNESCO World Heritage site located near the town of Selçuk, Turkey. They housed prominent citizens during the Roman period.
Introduction to the Terrace Houses at Ephesus
Terrace House 2, which contains richly decorated mosaics and frescoes, has been fully restored and is open to the public for an extra fee. It’s made up of seven residential units on three terraces covering 4,000 square meters. The houses had open courtyards and were two stories high. The lower floors contained living and dining rooms while the upper floors contained bedrooms. Each dwelling had cold and hot water and a heating system using clay pipes. Excavation of the site began in 1960 and continues today.
Visiting the Terrace Houses at Ephesus
Admission to the Terrace Houses is not included in a standard ticket to the archaeological site. It costs an additional 15€ for foreigners (as of April 2024).
Dwelling Unit 6
Dwelling Unit 6 is the first residence encountered on the path through the Terrace Houses at Ephesus. It was a large home of about 950 square meters. In the 2nd century, it was owned by Gaius Flavius Furius Aptus, who held municipal and priestly offices.
Peristyle Courtyard
Dwelling Unit 6 had a two-story peristyle courtyard featuring eight columns. The floors and walls of the courtyard were decorated with marble fittings.
The courtyard opened to rooms to the north and west as well as the Marble Hall to the south (see below). A room to the north contained frescoes and an aedicula with two columns for the purpose of worship.
Bath
A bath was built into the eastern corridor of the peristyle courtyard in the 3rd century. The first room to the north was a caldarium (warm bath) with water basins. The middle room was a sudatorium (sweat room), and the third room to the south was a frigidarium (cold bath) and changing room.
Marble Hall
The Marble Hall on the south side of Dwelling Unit 6 was used for banquets. At the beginning of the 2nd century, the floors and walls were lined with marble. A fountain in a niche at the southern wall was also added, as well as a basin in the center covered by colorful marble plates.
Basilica
The basilica was built in 160 to receive guests. It has a barrel vault and an apse. Marble panels decorated the lower parts of the walls while the upper parts and the barrel vault contains frescoes.
Room 36
Directly in front of the basilica is Room 36. It contains a water basin in the center. Room 36b, which is to the north contains a similar style and quality of frescoes as in the basilica. Looking down, you can also see mosaic floors.
Stucco Room (Room 36a)
Finally, off to the right side Room 36 is the barrel vaulted Room 36a, or Stucco Room. It features fine frescos of faces, garlands, and other figures. The Stucco Room was used as a reception hall.
Dwelling Unit 7
Next is Dwelling Unit 7. It sits on the west side of the lower levels of the Terrace Houses at Ephesus. Very little information is known about who lived in Dwelling Unit 7.
Peristyle Courtyard
Dwelling Unit 7 featured a peristyle courtyard with a marble floor. It opened onto a large room to the south and smaller rooms off the eastern corridor. The marble floor shows impressions of coins that melted during a fire caused by an earthquake around 270. The room to the south contained a bust of Roman Emperor Tiberius and his mother, Empress Livia, as well as a bronze snake. The snake is one of the highlights of the Ephesus Museum.
The eastern corridor of the courtyard has a mosaic floor and frescoes painted on the walls. Many frescoes in the Terrace Houses contain graffiti depicting animals or gladiators, and even love poems and price lists for everyday goods.
Development of Dwelling Unit 7
Interpretive panels in Dwelling Unit 7 indicate that the area occupied by the Terrace Houses was used as a graveyard from the 6th century BC to the 4th century BC. Three terraces were developed around 200 BC using stone walls. Houses were built on the first terrace in the 1st century BC, and a handicraft quarter developed on the other two. The Hellenistic structures on the terraces were demolished with the construction of the Roman period homes.
After a devastating earthquake around 270, the Terrace Houses were destroyed and left uninhabited for several decades. Modest two-room homes were built into the ruins using material recycled from earlier structures. Traces of some of these later homes exist on the first floor of Dwelling Unit 7.
Dwelling Unit 5
Dwelling Unit 5 is up the stairs from Dwelling Unit 7 at the Terrace Houses at Ephesus. It was originally one single unit combined with Dwelling Unit 3. They were split into two houses in the 2nd century.
Dwelling Unit 3
The smaller yet more impressive of the two homes is Dwelling Unit 3. It features a peristyle courtyard with a fountain at its southwest corner. The courtyard was open to the sky.
Mosaic Floors
Some rooms in Dwelling Unit 3 contain colorful mosaic floors. The room to the north of the peristyle courtyard (Room 17) features a mosaic of a lion, while the room to the south (Room 16a) contains mosaics of Medusa and Dionysus.
The Terrace Houses contain the largest complex of Roman period mosaic floors in Western Turkey. Most are made from small black and white stones and feature geometric patterns. They date from the early 1st century to the middle of the 3rd century.
Frescoes
Dwelling Unit 3 is also richly decorated with colorful frescoes. This includes the Room of the Muses (Room 12), which depicts the nine Muses of Greek mythology.
Byzantine Workshops
A handicraft quarter popped up during the Byzantine period in the 7th century. Some rooms on the western side of Terrace House 2, including Room B17 in Dwelling Unit 3, became mills, pottery workshops, blacksmith shops, or stone processing factories. By that time, the city had shrunk dramatically and the area occupied by the Terrace Houses was on the outskirts. Locating these facilities outside the city center reduced the exposure to noise and the risk of fire.
Dwelling Unit 2
Gaius Vibius Salutaris was the owner of Dwelling Unit 2. This luxurious home is located at the upper part of the Terrace Houses at Ephesus.
Small Peristyle Courtyard
The main entrance to Dwelling Unit 2 was to the west. It led to a small peristyle courtyard (Room SR27) surrounded by four columns. The western hall (Room B16) was built over by a mill during the Byzantine period in the 7th century.
Latrine
Just off the courtyard is a latrine (Room SR29). The actual toilet was behind the arched entry and had benches on three sides. It’s easy to notice pipes, one which is embedded in the wall, as well as a channel used to drain away the waste. There also appears to be a wash basin on the left side, and the walls are decorated with frescoes.
Kitchen
A kitchen (Room SR27a) was eventually built into the peristyle courtyard. It was accessible via the large central peristyle courtyard. The oven and channels have been preserved.
Central Peristyle Courtyard
The main rooms were situated around a central peristyle courtyard. Several finds dating back to the late 2nd century were discovered in these rooms during excavations.
Reception Hall
The room to the south of the central courtyard (Room GEW D) was used for receptions. It features a beautiful fresco depicting garlands and birds.
The colorful mosaic floor under the portico in front of the room depicts Triton and Nereid. It’s visible under the glass floor of the walkway.
Mosaic Floors
Finally, Dwelling Unit 2 contains several fine mosaic floors. Most are made of small black and white stones depicting geometric patterns. They’re present in every room as well as the halls around the central courtyard.
Dwelling Unit 4
Dwelling Unit 4 sits on the terrace above Dwelling Unit 6. Unfortunately, there’s not a good view of it from the walkway. Due to the extension of Dwelling Unit 6, the total area of Dwelling Unit 4 was reduced. It once had a peristyle courtyard but it was replaced with a walled courtyard. A statue of Artemis was found in Room 7 of the house.
Dwelling Unit 1
Dwelling Unit 1 is the final home to visit before exiting the Terrace Houses. Like other homes in the Terrace Houses, it’s centered around a peristyle courtyard.
Frescoes
There are many fine frescoes on the walls of Dwelling Unit 1. The rooms on the north side of the courtyard contain more frescoes as well as niches built into some of the walls. To the southeast of the courtyard is the Theatre Room (Room SR 6), which features high quality frescoes of theatre scenes as well as a mythological scene.
Mosaic Floors
Dwelling Unit 1 also contains several mosaic floors in excellent condition. They were made mostly of small black and white stones.
Bath
Finally, one of the most impressive features of Dwelling Unit 1 is the bath (Room SR 3). It sits in the northeastern corner of the unit and had floor heating and a bathtub.
Exit of the Terrace Houses at Ephesus
When leaving the Terrace Houses, don’t forget to take in the spectacular view from the platform at the exit. You can get a good look of the entire Marble Road all the way to the Commercial Agora and Great Theatre. Further in the distance are some of the ruined structures near the harbor.
Also, along the steps back down to the street level of the archaeological site, if you look closely you’ll spot the entrance to some unexcavated terrace houses.
