Academic recreates Ephesus city in virtual world

Eyüp Serbest - ISTANBUL

The historic city of Ephesus has been recreated in the virtual world by a professor, and three of his students are also present in the virtual world serving as tour guides.

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Denker, a faculty member at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Bilgi University, decided to bring the ancient city of Ephesus to the virtual world.

Denker, traveled to museums around the world where the remains of the Temple of Artemis are exhibited and collected information, initially recreated the temple in a three-dimensional online platform.

The professor’s project expanded to include Denker's students Selen Fem Güngördü, Ecem Suzan Ulaş and Deniz Naz Demirtaş, covering almost all the buildings of the city of Ephesus.

The three students appear in the virtual ancient city as tour guides.

Although the project has not yet been made public on the internet, it has received great appreciation from several academics.

The professor and his students also virtually constructed the ancient city’s most important structures such as the Library of Celsus, Arcadia Road, Gymnasium Harbor, Agora, Temple of Serapis, Temple of Hadrian, Arsinoe and Androclos monuments.

In the virtual city of Ephesus, which can be accessed with virtual reality (VR) glasses, users can walk around the streets and visit the inside of the buildings.

The city of Ephesus, which lived its most glorious periods in the Hellenistic and Roman times, was destroyed by the Goths in 263. The city was then abandoned and turned into ruins.

The pieces of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, considered one of the seven wonders of the world, were looted and taken to museums all around the world.