At the upper Magnesia gate, immediately to one side is the East Gymnasium at the foot of Panayir Mountain. The first monumental work one comes to is the semi-circular Odeion (c. 150 AD), which seats about 1500, with the Varius Baths beside it. Ephesus had a bicameral legislation, the first being the Congress of Councillors, which met here, hence the name "Bouleterion". In front of the Odeion was business council called the Basilica. Beside this was the Municipal Building, the Prytaneion marked with only two of its massive columns. The Prytan's most important function, as the mayor of the city, was to keep alive the flame that had been burning in the building for centuries in the name of the local deity Hestia. The Artemis statues on display in the Ephesus Museum were found in the vault of the Prytaneion.
The area in front of the Odeon was the State Agora (Upper Agora). In the middle was a temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis. In 80 AD Laecanus Bassus erected a fountain in the southwest corner of the Agora. From the agora one proceeds to the Square to Domitian where things like the Pollio and Domitian fountains, the Memmius Monument and the Hercules Gate are clustered together.

The famous Avenue of the Curates leads west from the State Agora to the Trajan Fountain, the façade of the Temple of Hadrian and the Scolasticia Baths. On the front arch of the Temple of Hadrian, the keystone is a bust of the mother goddess Cybele and on a semicircle on top of the center doorway is a relief of the snake-headed Medusa. Immediately beside the Temple are the Bordello and the Latrines.
On the left side of the Curates avenue, protected by a modern roof, are the most significant dwellings thus far excavated (c. 1960), the so-called Terrace Houses. These residences (c. 1C AD) of the wealthy are the most beautiful examples of peristyle houses and, each with its own heating system and bath were as comfortable as houses are today. They all had exquisite frescoed walls and mosaic floors, being painstakingly preserved by an Austrian-Turkish archaeological team. These houses are eminent in archaeological literature and very well-worth seeing. In recent years, the highlight of a visit to celebrated Ephesus has shifted from the Great Theater and the Library of Celsus to these exquisite Terrace Houses.

At the end of the avenue of Curates is that beautiful structure of Roman times, the Celsus Library with its two-story facade. When Ephesus governor Celsus died in 106 AD, his son had the library built as his monument and grave. The sarcophagus is under the west wall of the library. Four female statues represent the qualities of human character: Sophia (wisdom), Arete (goodness), Ennoia (judgement), and Episteme (knowledge). The originals are in Vienna's Ephesus Museum.

One of the most interesting structures in Ephesus is the Temple to Serapis, immediately behind the Library. Beside the Library is the Mazeus Mithridates Gate that leads to the Market Agora (Lower Agora).
Market Agora is the starting point for the Marble Avenue. At the end of the avenue is the largest and best-preserved theatre in the Greco-Roman world, the Great Theatre, with a seating capacity of 24,000. This was the site of a mass riot in which St. Paul's life was threatened by the silversmiths of Ephesus for his preaching against the cult of Artemis (see Acts 19: 21-41). Near the entry to the theatre is a lovely Hellenistic Fountain, one of the oldest structure in Ephesus. The Theatre Gymnasium and Baths across from it were built in the 2nd century AD.

The longest street in Ephesus is the Harbour Avenue (Arcadian Avenue) once lined with statues, and stretching from the Theatre to the presently silted-in harbor. The Four Apostles' Monument was in the middle of the avenue. At the end of the avenue was the Harbour Gymnasium and Baths next to the ancient harbor. In the complex, there stands the Church of Mary, site of the General Church Council of 431 AD. To the right of Harbour Avenue is the lower gate, through which you may exit.

Temple Of Artemis: First you will explore the site and remains of the Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana. Once considered one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, this grand temple was destroyed in the 5th century. See the ruins at the site of this once-great temple, and admire pieces of impressive ancient Greek architecture.