A column towers over everything else reaching for the skies; a young girl, rushes about holding out tiny statues, bookmarks and postcards; two storks gaze out from the top of the tower at all of us as we stand awestruck in front of what used to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is the temple of Artemis, formerly temple of Cybele and also known to some as the temple of Diana in Turkey in the town of Ephesus or Efes as the locals call it.
As we drive there, our guide tells us that Efes draws its name from Afeus (not too sure if that’s the way its spelt) which means queen bee and that it was a town that was first settled in by warrior women. The Amazonian settlers gave the town its name and a temple of fertility originally dedicated to the goddess Kybele (or Cybele).
Later Ionian settlers converted the temple into a place of worship for Artemis, twin of Apollo and goddess of fertility and hunting. Under their influence, the town considered Artemis as their protector and later, as the guardian mother of Alexander who, legend has it, ruled over the city for a long time with her blessing.
Today there is no trace of the temple except a large column and a few majestic boulders. The statue of the many breasted Artemis is in the museum while hawkers sell its tiny clones as postcards, bookmarks and refrigerator magnets.
