Ephesos Museum

Ephesos, located in present-day Turkey, was one of the most important cities of antiquity. It was here that the Artemis Temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, stood; the city was also the home of Heraclitus, as well as of one of the largest early-Christian communities. Roman times saw Ephesos became capital of the Province of Asia, with around 200,000 inhabitants.

Since 1895, Austrian archaeologists have been excavating the ruins of Ephesos. Up to the year 1906, numerous recovered objects of high quality were removed to Vienna, objects which can be seen today at the Ephesos Museum, an annex to the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

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Alongside the Ephesian artefacts, the museum is also home to architectural specimens and sculptures from the Sanctuary of the Great Gods of the Mystery cult on the Greek island of Samothrace, which was explored by Austrian archaeologists in 1873 and 1875.

Since recently, a preview of the Heroon of Trysa is on display in the Ephesus Museum. The Heroon was a tomb of a Lycian sovereign who had ancient myths, heroic sagas, and scenes from his own life depicted on over 200 metres of relief friezes around 380 BCE. The funerary monument was rediscovered in 1881 and the frieze panels were acquired for the imperial collections in Vienna. A complete installation of the spectacular monument is planned for the near future.

Address

Ephesos Museum, Haus der Geschichte Österreich
Heldenplatz, 1010 Vienna
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Visit the Ephesos Museum at the House of Austrian History (hdgö) with your annual pass or with a day ticket for the hdgö ( Opening Hours & Prices ).

Austrian excavations in the eastern Mediterranean (1873 and 1875 in Samothrace, 1882–1884 in Gölbaşı-Trysa and 1895–1906 in Ephesos) brought to light sculptures and gigantic sections of monumental architecture. The Kunsthistorisches Museum did not have space for the many finds from Ephesos and Samothrace. These were therefore temporarily housed in the Theseus Temple between 1901 and 1911. In 1978, the Ephesos Museum opened in the Neue Burg. However, the reliefs from the Heroon of Trysa have waited a long time to find a suitable home; in the near future, they will be displayed in their entirety in the Ephesos Museum.

The Heroon of Trysa (south wall), Asia Minor, Greek-Lycian, around 380 BC.

Ephesus lies on the Aegean coast of Turkey and was one of the largest cities of the ancient world. It was during the early modern period that the first European researchers set off to the Eastern Mediterranean in search of the great places of the past. Their descriptions, travel notes and, in particular, their sketches and engravings formed the basis for early modern Europe’s newly awakened interest in ancient times.

The 19th century, finally, saw the beginning of in-depth research based on scientific questions and methodologies. In this endeavour, one motive played a not insignificant role: site excavations served to expand and enrich the museum holdings of the various European royal and imperial houses. Spurred on by his knowledge of the size, significance and wealth of the Temple of Artemis, the Briton John Turtle Wood—working together with the British Museum—succeeded in rediscovering this ancient religious site in 1869. Contrary to expectations, however, the list of recovered items turned out to be modest, for which reason excavation activity was soon halted.

It was at a relatively late point, towards the end of the 19th century, that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy decided to mount a large-scale research effort in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Under the auspices of the Institute of Classical Archaeology and conducted by the newly founded Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian scientists began conducting research in the ruins of Ephesus in 1895, and this work continues today. An excavation process lasting over a century (albeit interrupted by the two World Wars) has provided and continues to provide answers to numerous questions about the ancient city.

An additional motivation to provide funding for these efforts was an agreement between the Ottoman Empire and Austria. Abdul Hamid II, the Ottoman Sultan at the time, presented a generous gift to Emperor Franz Joseph: several of the ancient objects that had been discovered were gifted to the Imperial House, allowing them to be exported to join the collections in Vienna. Austrian Navy vessels subsequently brought several shipments of archaeological finds back to Vienna, where they were provisionally warehoused and put on occasional display at the Theseus Temple in the Volksgarten. The ability to directly examine these newly found originals in Vienna made possible their subsequent scientific study in Austria. The export of antiquities from Turkey was generally banned with the proclamation of the Turkish Antiquities Law of 1907; as a consequence, Vienna was to receive no more such finds.

After the collection had been kept in various makeshift settings for many years, December 1978 finally saw the Vienna Ephesus Museum opened in its present-day form inside the Neue Burg section of the Hofburg complex. Visitors are presented with a representative selection of Roman sculptures that once decorated institutions including sprawling thermal bath facilities and the Ephesian Theatre. A number of architectural elements give an impression of the magnificent ancient buildings’ richly decorated facades, and a model of the ancient city makes it possible to better understand the objects’ respective positioning within the city’s topography. Alongside all of this, the so-called Parthian Monument, a series of Roman reliefs unique in both its size and importance, forms a highlight of the collection.

The scientific study of the holdings of ancient objects from Ephesus is conducted in cooperation with the institutes of the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Archaeological Institute. The Ephesus Museum in Vienna serves last but not least as an ambassador for Austria’s intensive efforts in the interest of ancient Ephesus, which—with today’s ca. two million visitors annually—is Turkey’s most-visited tourist destination after the Hagia Sophia and Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. Both the care of the ruins and the reconstruction and rebuilding of ancient monuments are also part of the Austrian researchers’ mission, and the Ephesus Museum provides an Austrian-based platform with which to represent their many years of work.