Basilica of St. John

The Basilica of St. John in ancient Ephesus — today near the town of Selçuk in Turkey's Aydın province — was one of the largest sacred structures in the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Justinian I commissioned the church in the 6th century over the believed burial site of John the Evangelist; its six-domed, cruciform plan stretched more than 130 meters, rivaling the grandest churches of late antiquity. The site had drawn pilgrims long before Justinian's building campaign, anchored by the tradition that John himself died and was interred here. What remains today is an extensive ruin of column rows, marble-paved floors, and weathered arches that still convey the basilica's original scale. The elevated walls afford open views across the western Anatolian hill country, and ongoing excavations continue to yield finds relevant to Byzantine architectural history.