2-368-540 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

The Church of St John, Ephesus, Turkey. This monumental basilica was built in the shape of a cross and was covered with six domes. Raised by two steps and covered with marble, the tomb of St John was under the central dome. The columns in the courtyard reveal the monograms of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. Constructed in the 5th century, the baptistery is north of the nave. Rampart walls around the church were constructed for protection from Arabian attacks in the 7th and 8th centuries. Ephesus was once the most important commercial centre of the ancient world and also a religious centre for early Christians. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period.