Ephesus is the old port town used by many different peoples over thousands of years and it was located on the coast but due to silting over time is now situated around 6 kilometres inland on the side of a hill which in bygone days used to look over the sea. The ruins are those left by the Romans as this was the regional city during their rule of the area but it has been built on by various people over time and some of the buildings preexisted the Romans who changed them to their style and built more to enlarge the city. The area is still under excavation with only around 20% uncovered to date. It was accidentally uncovered during searches for oil reserves in the area by an engineer who later left his work to take on excavations of the site. Today it is a team of Austrian archaeologists who in conjunction with Turkey are continuing the excavation process. The photo shows the entrance to the area which is at the top of the hill with many ruins uncovered and re installed in their original positions.