The brothel and public latrine of ancient Ephesus are located directly across Marble Street from the Library of Celsus. Both date from the 1st century AD. Of course neither of these are a sacred site, but these less glamorous structures help bring ancient Ephesus to life.
Brothel
The brothel originally had two floors, with ground floor entrances on both Marble Street and on Curetes Street. On the latter, an etched footprint in the marble famously shows the way.
The rooms of the ground floor, one of which has a stone bed, were built around a small atrium. The floor of the main reception room was covered with a mosaic of the four seasons. The personified figures of Winter (with head covered) and Autumn (with a garland of flowers) are still well preserved. The cubicles used by the prostitutes to entertain their clients were on the upper floor.
The ithyphallic figurine of Priapus – Bes, now in the Ephesus Museum, was found in a well on the side of the brothel near Curetes Street. The well is still in use. Of Egyptian origin, Bes was not the god of the brothel, but the protector of everything associated with motherhood and childbearing.
Latrine
The 1st-century Roman Latrine of Ephesus was rather advanced and civilized for its time. It was constructed over a channel with an uninterrupted flow of water and the toilet seats, formed by cutting holes into marble benches that line the walls, were covered by a roof.
The rest of the large room was open to the sky, and had an impluvium (a sunken pool for catching rainwater) in the center. The floor was covered with mosaics.
The Latrines are interesting a communal and social activity, complete with running water for both moving waste along. Latrines used by both women and men.
Ancient brothel in Ephesus. There is an underground tunnel here that goes across the street leading to the library.
We had a good laugh looking at the ancient public toilet – so advanced for the time! Loved the explanation of why they kept frogs in the toilet!
Saw pictures of it, glad I had the chance to see it for myself. We have a good chuckle now but 2000 years ago this was the norm.
Than two dozen seats all in a row- my kids cracked up at the thought of "going" next to your neighbors. what's not to like??
This restored public latrine gives a glimpse of the different social mores concerning going to the toilet in the ancient world… Where it was a place where conversations were had at leisure…
i had never thought about how the ancients used the potty! this was a very eyeopening sight. i loved the strategy of having the bath house uphill and the water draining from the baths washed the refuse from the public latrine away! very clever!
Well, this was fascinating, even if a little gross. No privacy and they used sponges and running water – men and women sat on the stone cutout seats next to eachother to chat and such as they did their "business" still the plumbing was an engineering wonder for the time.. Teenage boys would really find this gross and funny!
Loved the opportunity to see what life was really like in ancient Ephesus. Our wonderful guide filled us in on all the details.
At our second tour of Ephesus we loved returning to this amazing site in the city. There are rows of latrines carved into large segments of marble and all the men want to have their photo of them "on the throne" – this is a perfect example of the amazing sophistication of ancient Roman cities!
Must have been interesting to conduct business here! Gives one insight into how they functioned to conduct business here where they could not be overheard, wonder if they had any Johnny English spies in those days?
Not what i would call a highlight but it's certainly memorable! Yet another invention we have the Romans to thank for and in all honesty these toilets were in better condition than some places we visited in Turkey !!!