Virgin Mary

The House of Virgin Mary is located on Bulbul Mountain which is 7kms (4.3 miles) to Selcuk, Turkey where Ephesus ancient city is located.

The House of Virgin Mary was found in the 19th century with the help of the descriptions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich who was a Roman Catholic nun and visionary. According to her visionary, she described the location of the houses in details saying that it could be reached by following the narrow path leading south from Ephesus to a hill that would take a half an hour journey. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

The House of Virgin Mary, a Catholic shrine, gained the Apostolic Blessing of the fist pilgrimage in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII. It is accepted by the Catholic pilgrims that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this house by Saint John and lived there till her Assumption / Dormition.

This stone house, which was built in Apostolic Age, could be described as a small modest chapel. At the entrance, the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary greets the visitors. On the right there’s a smaller room which was believed to be the room where the Virgin Mary had slept.

On 18th October 1881, with the help of the descriptions, a French priest called Julien Gouyet found a stone building on a mountain and the ruins of ancient Ephesus in Turkey which he thought to be the house where the Virgin Mary has lived her last years, described by Emmerich. Ten years after this, Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey and two Lazarist missionaries Father Poulin and Father Jung found the building on 29th July 1891. They learnt that the house was called Panaya Kapulu by the members of a nearby village which means the Doorway to the Virgin. Pilgrims had been visiting the site on 15th August every year which is the date that Christian world celebrates Mary’s Dormition / Assumption.

The House of Virgin Mary was visited by Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II in 1979, Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

OTTI’s Ephesus Tours will give you the opportunity to explore the House of Virgin Mary.
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