Cave of The Seven Sleepers

Following the road leading east from beside the gymnasium of Vedius, one comes to the Cave of the Seven Sleepers located on the northern slopes of Mount Pion, near Ephesus. Christians during Roman imperial times had real problems because the Emperor demanded they offer sacrifice to the emperor in a temple built for him. When they failed to do this they became enemies of the Emperor and state.

The legend is that in the times of the emperor Decius seven young Christians refused to offer sacrifice to the Emperor and were consequently forced to flee the city and take refuge in a cave. After sleeping for a time they went back into the city to get some food and found out they had slept for 200 years. Christianity was now widespread in the Roman Empire. Theodosius II heard the story and accepted it as a sign of the truth of human resurrection. The idea of resurrection was being debated at the time.

Excavation in 1927-28 found a church and hundreds of graves here. Many grave inscriptions were addressed to the seven sleepers. For centuries, people wanted to be buried as close to the seven sleepers as possible.