The great marble temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis was completed around 550 B.C. at Ephesus, near the modern-day town of Selçuk in Turkey.
In addition to its 120 columns, each standing 60 feet (20 meters) high, the temple was said to have held many exquisite artworks, including bronze statues of the Amazons, a mythical race of female warriors.
A man named Herostratus reportedly burned down the temple in 356 B.C. in an attempt to immortalize his name. After being restored, the temple was destroyed by the Goths in A.D. 262 and again by the Christians in A.D. 401 on the orders of Saint John Chrysostom, then archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul).
Today the temple's foundations have been excavated and some of its columns re-erected.
译文:
土耳其阿耳特弥斯神殿
这座巨大的大理石神殿是专为希腊之神阿耳特弥斯而建，大约在公元前550年完工。位于以弗所，靠近今日土耳其的Selçuk镇。
神殿除了有120根柱子（每根有60英尺，约合20米高）外，据说里面还收藏有许珍稀艺术品，包括有亚马逊人（传说中一个好战的女性民族）的青铜雕像。
据说一个名叫Herostratus的人为了使他的名字永垂青史，就在公元前356年烧毁了神殿。重新修建后，神殿却又在公元262年被哥特人毁坏，公元401年又遭基督教君士坦丁堡（伊斯坦布尔）圣约翰 · 克里索斯托的命令而被破坏。
如今，神殿的地基已被发掘，几根柱子也重新竖立起来。