Arcadian Street of Ephesus or Arcadian Road of Ephesus, which stretches from the theater to the port, connects the port gate to the center of Ephesus. Theater Gymnasium and Harbor Baths are located on this route. Visitors to Ephesus who came by the sea used to use Arcadian Street, which is surrounded by giant columns on the right and left, to enter Ephesus. Arcadian Street, also known as Ephesus Harbor Street or Arcadian Way, was a magnificent street that was 11 meters wide and 350 meters long.
The marble columns on both sides of the street have survived to the present day and are still preserved in good condition where they were. It was revealed that there was sewage extending to the harbor under Arcadian Street, which was completely covered with marble, which kept the smell inside the tunnels.
Ephesus Harbor Street is also known as King’s Road since it was restored by the Emperor and some of the greatest royal family members such as Cleopatra used Arcadian Way to enter into Ephesus. The royal road overlooks the Great Theatre, which was built on the skirts of Panayır Mountain. Thus, the theater, which is one of the biggest and most important structures of the city, will be seen from afar by visitors entering the port by ship.
The street, which was used to visit the Ephesus Ruins and stretched from the port to the theater, was originally built in the Hellenistic Period but was renamed Arcadian because it was repaired by the Emperor Arcadian during the Roman era of Ephesus Ancient City.
Since Ephesus is one of the most significant port cities of the Roman Empire, it was such a significant street where all goods and wealth flowed. It was also revealed during the excavations that important shows and religious ceremonies were held in Ephesus Port Street, a.k.a. Arcadian Street, which opens to the port with a magnificent gate.
Theater Gymnasium of Ephesus
The Theater Gymnasium was a Roman bath and sports complex at the beginning of the Arcadian Street, right next to the Great Theater, where the street to the Stadium goes north. It was built in the time of Emperor Hadrian, and it was one of the four big bath-gymnasiums of Ephesus together with the Harbor, East and Vedius gymnasiums.
Young men of the city, the ephebes, came here for training, and an inscription found here lists their names. Its open courtyard, the palaestra, was rather small and the bath building was much bigger than it, so the place was more for bathing and lessons than for big games. Only some parts of it have been excavated, and today the area is a wide field of fallen marble blocks on the right side as you walk down from the theater.
Four-Column Monument on the Arcadian Street
The Four-Column Monument was a group of four tall columns put up halfway along the Arcadian Road of Ephesus in early Byzantine times, probably in the 6th century AD. Each column carried a statue on its top.
People often call them the Columns of the Evangelists and say the four statues showed Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This sounds very good for a city like Ephesus but none of statues survived, and they may also have shown important officials of the city. I hope one day a new find will tell us the answer.
You can see Arcadian Street or Harbor Street at the end of your walk through Ephesus Ancient City. Come and see Arcadian Street with me and enjoy the cold breeze coming from the area where the port of Ephesus used to be. See you soon, Hasan Gülday.
