The Basilica of Saint John at Ephesus: Justinian's six domes

The explanations distinguish finds, interpretations and open questions. Sources appear at the end of the page.

What the source says

In the Met's timeline for Anatolia and the Caucasus, 500-1000 A.D., the key event headed "548-565" reads: "The cruciform basilica of Saint John at Ephesus is rebuilt by the emperor Justinian I (r. 527-65) who adds six domes to the original design in emulation of the Holy Apostles Church in Constantinople." Source 1.

What changed

The sentence tells us three things. The building is "rebuilt", so a basilica already stood on the spot; its form was cruciform; and the change the source names is the addition of six domes "to the original design", after the model of a church in the capital. The source does not say whether the plan itself was also changed, what the original design looked like, or when the first basilica was built. Source 1.

A holy place before Justinian

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre page on Ephesus relates that the Temple of Artemis drew pilgrims from all around the Mediterranean "until it was eclipsed by Christian pilgrimage to the Church of Mary and the Basilica of St. John in the 5th century CE", and that the extensive remains of the Basilica of St. John on Ayasuluk Hill and of the Church of Mary are testament of the city's importance to Christianity. According to the same page, two important Councils of the early Church were held at Ephesus in 431 and 449 CE. UNESCO thus records pilgrimage to the basilica already in the 5th century, before the Met's date for the rebuilding. On this point the two sources agree, but neither describes the earlier building. Sources 2, 1.

Dating

The years 548-565 fall within the Byzantine period in Anatolia as this site defines it, 330-1071 CE, and within the reign the source gives Justinian (527-65); the rebuilding is therefore placed in the later part of his reign. What came later on Ayasuluk Hill, the Mosque of Isa Bey and the medieval settlement, which according to UNESCO "mark the advent of the Selçuk and Ottoman Turks", is not dated on the page and is not discussed here. Sources 1, 2.

What cannot be known from this

Neither source describes the remains as they are today: they give no measurements, plan or decoration, and they do not say what survives of Justinian's domes. The Holy Apostles Church in Constantinople is named only as the model, and this article does not describe it. Sources 1, 2.

Scope of reading: the Met timeline page for Anatolia and the Caucasus, 500-1000 A.D., and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre page on Ephesus were read on 24 October 2026. The excavation and restoration publications on the basilica were not read.