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The
Church of Mary is an ancient
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
dedicated to the
TheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
(the
Virgin MaryMary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
), located in
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It is also known as the
Church of the Councils because two councils of importance to the history of
Early ChristianityEarly Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
are assumed to have been held within. The church is located in the south stoa of the Olympieion (Temple of Hadrian Olympios) next to the harbor of Ephesus.
History
The church is dated to the early 5th century, coinciding with the Council of Ephesus or the Third
Ecumenical CouncilAn ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
held in 431, suggesting that it may have been built specifically for the council, during which the title of
TheotokosTheotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
for the Mother of Christ was decided. The latest archaeological evidence suggests that the church was built on the ruins of an earlier
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
-like building abandoned around the 3rd century. Around 500, the church was expanded into a monumental cathedral, whose apse and pillars partially still stand today on the site.
The church served as a
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and was the seat of the Bishop of Ephesus throughout
Late AntiquityLate Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
.
See also
- Seven churches of Asia
The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and The Seven Churches of Asia , are seven major churches of Early Christianity, as mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation and written to by Ignatius of Antioch...
- House of the Virgin Mary
The House of the Virgin Mary is a Christian and Muslim shrine located on Mt...
, also in Ephesus, believed to be the place where Virgin Mary lived until the Dormition
- Roman Catholic Marian churches
Throughout history, Roman Catholics have built churches to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, a large number of Roman Catholic churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin exist on all continents...
Resources
- Stefan Karweise, The Church of Mary and the Temple of Hadrian Olympios. Helmut Koester, ed., Ephesos: Metropolis of Asia (Harvard University Press, 1995), 311-20.
External links