The Cave of the Seven Sleepers at Ephesus
- Date of account
- Nineteenth-century travel and archaeological descriptions
- Location
- Ephesus, near modern Selçuk, İzmir Province
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
Nineteenth-century travelers and archaeologists described the cave and cemetery complex traditionally identified with the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. The site provides a concrete comparison point for how a boundary-crossing legend becomes attached to a tomb, cave, ruin, and pilgrimage landscape. Its archaeological interpretation is not identical to the later saintly narrative, and several locations in the Mediterranean have claimed the same association. Verification should compare travel accounts, excavation reports, epigraphic evidence, and local religious practice rather than relying on guidebook identification.
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