Mount Aladag: House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus

The mountain above Ephesus is known for the House of the Virgin Mary, the small stone house on its slopes that tradition holds was Mary’s home in her final years. It is a place of Christian pilgrimage rather than a climbing destination, and most visitors come for the house rather than the mountain itself.

It rises above the ruins of Ephesus near Selçuk, in İzmir province on Turkey’s Aegean coast. Do not confuse it with the Aladağlar range in the Taurus Mountains of central southern Turkey, which is a separate and much higher massif.

The shrine has been visited by Leo XIII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Those visits are a large part of why the site is so widely recognised among Catholic pilgrims.

The road runs up from Selçuk, a few kilometres past the main entrance to Ephesus. There is no public bus to the summit, so visitors come by taxi, hire car or on an organised Ephesus tour, which almost always includes the house.

Ephesus itself, one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean, sits at the foot of the mountain. The Temple of Artemis, the Basilica of St John and the Ephesus Archaeological Museum are all in Selçuk, and the hill village of Şirince is a short drive away.