Ephesos Museum, Vienna

The Ephesos Museum in Vienna showcases ancient artifacts from the city of Ephesus, located in present-day Turkey. This collection, which began in the late 19th century, includes original sculptures and architectural pieces and is part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Between 1896 and 1906, seven expeditions transported discoveries from Ephesus to Vienna. In the early 20th century, these findings were exhibited at various locations, including Belvedere Palace and the antiques collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Ephesean sculptures were showcased in the Neue Burg's colonnade from 1947 until 1978, when the entire collection finally found a permanent home in the newly established Ephesos Museum.

Among the museum's treasures are remnants from the late-Classical Altar of Artemis, including a sculpture of an Amazon. Visitors can ascend staircases from the entrance hall to a spacious chamber that houses the frieze from the Parthian Monument of Ephesus. Other significant exhibits include a 1:500 scale model of ancient Ephesus, numerous sculptures, such as a bronze statue of an athlete, and architectural and sculptural artifacts from the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the Greek island of Samothrace.

Situated on the Turkish Aegean coast, Ephesus was once among the largest cities in the ancient world and remains a highly popular tourist destination in Turkey today. The Austrian Archaeological Institute has been conducting research in the city's ruins since 1895, with interruptions during the two world wars. The museum's collection began when Sultan Abdul Hamid II donated some archaeological findings to Emperor Franz Joseph I.