Tourists flock to ancient city of Ephesus

İZMİR - Anadolu Agency

The ancient city of Ephesus brought over 4 million liras income this year.

The ancient city of Ephesus located in the western province of İzmir was visited by some 800,000 tourists in the first six months of 2014, bringing in revenue of over 4 million Turkish liras.

Although Ephesus kept its number one status in the number of tourists it received, as well as revenue it received, the largest increase in revenue was enjoyed by the acropolis of Pergamon (Bergama), which was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in June, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

A major center of learning in the ancient world, the acropolis of Pergamon – also located in the province of İzmir – received 109,000 tourists in the first half of the year, raising the revenue received by museums in the area by 106 percent.

“Revenue from these historic sites are used to improve and restore the sites themselves,” Culture and Tourism Director of İzmir Abdülaziz Ediz said, adding the restoration of the Ephesus Museum in the town Selçuk, which has been going on for the past 18 months, will be completed soon.

“Hopefully, Ephesus will make UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2015,” Ediz said. The ancient city of Ephesus was added to UNESCO’s temporary list of world heritage sites in 2000.