Of all the ruins in Turkey, the grandest and best-restored are at Ephesus. This prominent ancient capital was founded in the 10th century BC by the Ionian Greeks and flourished between 600 BC and 500 AD (it once had a population of 300,000). Biblical buffs may know the town as the inspiration for St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians and it was the site of one of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. German archaeologists still digging at the site have reconstructed much of it, including a luxurious two-story library, private homes, the Temple of Hadrian and the Great Amphitheater (open-air concerts are still held there--Joan Baez, among others, has performed in summer concerts). Nearby is the reconstructed site where the Virgin Mary is said to have spent her last year. Ephesus and the museum in Selcuk (where many of the artifacts are on display--see separate paragraph) are often seen as a daytrip from Izmir. 35 mi/55 km south-southeast of Izmir.