Curetes Street is one of the three main streets of Ephesus. It runs between the Hercules Gate and the Celsus Library. The street was an archaic Processional Way, an important sacred route that lead to the Temple of Artemis. The Curetes were semi-deities in mythology, but the term was used to refer to a class of priests and priestesses in Ephesus. They started as a cult of six priests but were later expanded to nine who would reenact the birth of the goddess Artemis.The street was home to many fountains, monuments, and statues. There were also houses on the slope that would have been used by the wealthiest of Ephesians. Under these houses were colonnaded galleries and shops with mosaic tiled floors. The roofs of the houses would have been used to shelter shopping pedestrians from sun or rain.