A great port city of the Roman province of Asia, home of the famous temple of Artemis and a thriving church planted by Paul. It represents the world of the early Gentile church.
Asia Minor (western Turkey)
Turkey
Ephesus was one of the largest and richest cities of the Roman east, a center of commerce and of the pagan cult of Artemis. Paul spent years there; the riot of the silversmiths (Acts 19) shows how the gospel clashed with the local economy of idol-making. Jesus addresses the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2.
Ephesus sat on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, a major port on the shipping lanes between Rome and the eastern provinces.