But when I saw the sacred house of Artemis that towers to the clouds, the [other Wonders] were placed in the shade[1],for the Sun himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus. ——Antipater[2] of Sidon
Is it simply a temple? How could it take its place among other unique structures such as the Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens, and the Colossus of Rhodes?For the people who actually visited it, the answer was simple. It was not just a temple... It was the most beautiful structure on earth... It was built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature. That was the Temple of Artemis（Diana) at Ephesus.
Location The ancient city of Ephesus, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey.
History Although the foundation of the temple dates back to the seventh century BC, the structure that earned a spot in the list of Wonders was built around 550 BC. Referred to as the great marble temple, it was sponsored by the Lydian[3] king Croesus[4] and was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron. It was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, and Kresilas.
The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years, the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid homage to the goddess by sharing their profits with her. Recent archeological excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts from as far as Persia and India.
On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. He did indeed. Strangely enough, Alexander the Great was born the same night. The historian Plutarch[5] later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple". Over the next two decades, the temple was restored. And when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple.
When St Paul[6] visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD, he was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess.And when the temple was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262, the Ephesians vowed to rebuild. By the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted[7] to Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamor. The final chapter came when in AD 401 the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom[8]. Ephesus was later deserted, and only in the late nineteenth century has the site been excavated.The digging revealed the temple's foundation and the road to the now swampy site. Attempts were recently made to rebuild the temple, but only a few columns have been re-erected.

阿耳忒弥斯神庙

　　但当我看到阿耳忒弥斯那高耸入云的神庙时，（其它奇观）都显得黯然失色了，因为即便是太阳神自己在奥林匹斯山之外也从未见过能与之媲美的建筑。 ——西顿的安提帕特

它仅仅只是座庙宇吗？那么它又怎能置身于其它独具特色的建筑诸如金字塔、空中花园和罗得岛的太阳神巨像之中呢？对于那些亲眼目睹过它的人来说，答案很简单。它不止只是一座神庙……它是世上最美丽的建筑……它是为供奉希腊的狩猎女神所建。那就是以弗所的阿耳忒弥斯（狄安娜）神庙。

位置： 位于古城以弗所中，距土耳其伊兹密尔（士麦那港口）南约50公里。

历史： 尽管神庙地基的建造日期可以追溯到公元前7世纪，但是在世界奇观中赢得了一席之位的建筑物还是建于大约公元前550年。这座被世人认作是雄伟的大理石神庙的建筑是由吕底亚的国王克里萨斯出资筹建的，并由希腊建筑家车西夫若恩设计的。神庙中装饰着由当时技艺最精湛的艺术家：菲底亚斯、坡留克来妥斯和克列休拉斯所塑的青铜雕像。

神庙同时用作市场和宗教机构。多年来，商人、旅游者、工匠和君王们纷纷来到神庙朝圣并把自己所得的赢利供奉给女神。最近在神庙的旧址上进行的考古工作发掘出朝圣者（为女神）带来的各种贡品，其中包括黄金和象牙做成的阿耳忒弥斯的小雕像……耳环、手镯和项链……甚至有来自遥远的波斯和印度的古器。

在公元前356年7月21日的夜晚，一名叫希罗斯特图斯的人为了使自己名垂青史，放火焚毁了神庙。他果真因此而臭名昭著。很奇怪的是，亚历山大大帝就在那一夜出生了。历史学家普卢塔克后来写道：女神由于“太忙于照料亚历山大的出生以至无法赢救自己受到威胁的神庙。”在此后的两个多世纪中，神庙被修复了。当亚历山大大帝征服小亚细亚时，他帮助重建了这座被毁的神庙。

在公元1世纪，当圣·保罗来到以弗所传扬基督教时，受到了一群无意放弃自己信仰的阿耳忒弥斯信徒的对抗。神庙于公元262年再次遭到了哥特人的破坏，以弗所人发誓要重建它。但到了公元4世纪，以弗所人大都已转信基督教，神庙也就失去了它的宗教魅力。公元401年，圣·约翰·克里索斯下令拆除了阿耳忒弥斯神庙，神庙的末日到来了。此后以弗所也遭废弃。直到19世纪末，神庙的旧址才被挖掘出来。发掘工作使神庙的地基和通往现在已是沼泽的旧址的道路重见天日。尽管近来有重建神庙的打算，但也只是几根柱子被重新竖立起来而已。