Virgin Mary House
The Virgin Mary House near Ephesus and Selcuk (8 km southwest) located on Bulbul Mountain, is belived to be the house of Virgin Mary where she died. According to the ancient historians Virgin Mary visited Ephesus with St. Paul at 45 AD and the local Christians built this small house near Ephesus. Virgin Mary's house is visited by Christian and Muslim pilgrims from around the world. The small stone house is now a chapel, and probably dates back to the 4th century BC, although the foundations are thought to be 1st century BC.
It was not until a German nun, Catherine Emmerich (1773-1824) claimed that she had visions and dreams of Virgin Mary living in a small stone house even though the nun had never left Germany. Following her descriptions, 19th century clergy discovered the foundations of the house, which was then verified again by a Papal visit in 1967. Since 1967 it has since been accepted that Virgin Mary spent her last few years in there until she died at the age of 101.
The supporters of the belief that Virgin Mary lived and died here base their theory on two main facts;
1- The presence of the tomb of St. John. in Ephesus: Jesus Christ, before dying on the cross, entrusted to St. John his mother. After the crucifixion of Jesus, St. John left Jerusalem and came to Ephesus, one of the biggest and safest cities of its time (capital of the Asia Minor province of the Roman Empire), and built a small hut for Virgin Mary just outside Ephesus in order to protect her from the non-Christian community of Ephesus.
2- The presence of the first Basilica of the world dedicated to Virgin Mary. In the early centuries of the Christianity, places of worship were only dedicated to persons who lived or died in the locality.