Date

2023-1

Author

Özen, Bilge Sena

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Cultural heritage conservation can be best accomplished through its adoption by a broad audience. The process of understanding, appreciating, and respecting cultural heritage can be achieved by effective heritage interpretation and presentation. Interpretation should focus on and involve all heritage resources, without any exclusion. Otherwise, the risk of losing heritage sites’ broader character emerges, especially if those somehow neglected or ‘excluded’ heritage resources are physically preserved and visible. Ephesus, in particular Byzantine Ephesus, is such an example. The Late Antique and Byzantine monuments, specifically the religious ones, are relatively well-preserved. Some indeed are accessible and visible. However, any comprehension of the site’s overall Byzantine composition is missing. This thesis addresses this challenge by focusing on the physical and intellectual setting of the Late Antique and Byzantine cultural heritage and its monuments, and offers proposals for better interpretation and presentation. Located in Western Asia Minor, Ephesus was settled from at least the 7th millennium BCE and continued so up until the 15th century CE. It became one of the most important centers of Early Christianity from the historical, political, socio-cultural, architectural, and religious angles. The religious aspects played a distinctive role in the formation of these features. Moreover, some religious structures (the Basilica of St. John, the Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers, the Church of the Virgin Mary, the ‘Tomb of St. Luke’, the Grotto of St. Paul, and the Church in the Bay of Pamucak) are Late Antique and Byzantine pilgrimage sites. Some of these pilgrimage centers have maintained their identity better, some have lost it, and a few new ones have emerged over time. For example, the House of the Virgin Mary gained this character only in the last century. The continuous religious activities, which make Ephesus a ‘living religious heritage’ site, with visitors coming to the site with diverse motivations (cultural and religious tourism and pilgrimage) indicate the broad spectrum of the spiritual character of Ephesus. This study concentrates on Late Antique and Byzantine Ephesus, its religious monuments, and ‘living religious heritage’ sites, enhancing their visibility within the broader context of Ephesus. The thesis is structured around three stages: problem definition, understanding the potential, and evaluating possible solutions. In the first two sections, a conceptual framework concerning the terms of interpretation and presentation and the diverse approaches available for Ephesus is presented, and the content of the Late Antique and Byzantine archaeological site of Ephesus is studied and evaluated. Thus, the values and opportunities of the Late Antique and Byzantine heritage and the threats to its interpretation and presentation are analyzed. Following this assessment, the thesis sets out proposals for a better site interpretation and presentation for Late Antique and Byzantine Ephesus and so for promoting public awareness of its religious significance both in the past and present. For this purpose, comprehensive themes based on the characteristics of Ephesus (thematic cultural routes interpreting Byzantine Ephesus that embrace both the past pilgrimage sites and ‘living religious heritage’ sites) are hierarchically planned and promoted.

Subject Keywords

Ephesus, Late Antique/Byzantine, Cultural and religious heritage, Interpretation and presentation of heritage sites

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/102110

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis