Terrace Houses of Ephesus (Terrace Houses)

Should you pay extra for the Terrace Houses? For most people the answer is simple: yes. The rest of Ephesus is about public life, with its streets, monuments and ruins. The Terrace Houses show the private side, the homes of the city's rich, one room after another, with frescoed walls, mosaic floors and marble panelling where they were first laid. A big modern roof covers them halfway down Curetes Street, and entry is by a separate ticket.

Key details

The people who lived here

The name comes from the terraces cut into the side of Bulbul Mountain on which the houses stand. The block called Terrace House 2 contains seven homes, each arranged around its own central courtyard. Construction started around the 1st century BC, and the houses were altered many times in the centuries after, until 3rd-century earthquakes and later damage brought their life as grand residences to an end.

Their owners were rich: officials, priests and merchants, some known by name from inscriptions. The homes had running water, heated rooms and their own latrines. Paintings of muses, philosophers, gods and plants covered the walls.

The Austrian Archaeological Institute has excavated and restored the site over several decades, together with the Turkish authorities. The roof keeps sun and rain off the paintings, and glass and metal walkways let visitors move over and among the rooms.

Highlights

• Frescoes. Paintings of the Muses and of Socrates, along with birds, flowers and garden scenes. On some walls you can make out layers painted in different centuries.
• Mosaics. Floors in black and white and in colour, with geometric designs and figures, a Triton and a Nereid among them.
• The marble hall. In one of the biggest homes, restorers are fitting back thousands of pieces of coloured marble wall cladding, like an enormous jigsaw. You can watch the work as it happens.
• Peristyle courtyards. Open courts ringed with columns, with fountains and gardens, where family life once centred.
• Graffiti. Notes and drawings scratched into some walls add a human touch, from rough sketches to lists.

Worth the extra ticket?

Expect the Terrace Houses to add around an hour and €15 to your day at Ephesus. They repay the cost if daily life, art or archaeology interest you, or if you have visited other large ancient sites before. They matter less for families with young children, who can get bored on the walkways, or for cruise passengers in a hurry. The interior is shaded, a real comfort on a hot afternoon.

When to go

Since the houses are roofed, any hour works. Many visitors come at midday, when the open-air site is at its hottest. Groups are thinner in the morning and late afternoon. In summer it can still feel warm under the roof, but far less so than in the streets outside.

Our Private Ephesus Highlights Tour with Skip-the-Line Access takes in the Terrace Houses with an expert guide over six to eight hours, from US$300. Cruise passengers arriving at Kusadasi can book the Private Ephesus Tour with On-Time Return, which also includes them, from US$300. To add the village of Sirince, choose the Ephesus & Sirince Village Tour from Kusadasi Port, from US$300.

Practical tips

• Get your main Ephesus ticket first; the Terrace Houses ticket is on sale at their own entrance within the site.
• Wear shoes that grip, as the metal steps can be slippery.
• No flash photography.
• Plan the rest of your route with our Ephesus Ancient City page and our Library of Celsus page.

Common questions