Some of the most recent discoveries in Ephesus have been made in the area on the south side of Curetes Street, the main road. This area had homes for both the rich and the poor. The poorer people lived in apartments next to the big, fancy villas of the wealthy.
Christian Meetings in Private Homes
During the first century, the church could not legally own buildings. So, Christians did not have their own church buildings. Instead, they met in people’s homes. They would gather in small apartments or in the larger homes of wealthy church members, as mentioned in the last chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans A Brothel Turned Bathhouse.
Some of these large homes, or villas, were very rich and had enough space for Christians to meet for worship and study. These gatherings in private homes were likely early house churches. Paul’s friends, who were wealthy and powerful people called asiarchs, may have lived in these kinds of homes.
The Layout of Curetes Street
On Curetes Street, the first floor had shops that opened onto a street with columns. Above the shops, there were apartments. The sidewalk between the shops and the street was decorated with beautiful mosaic patterns. A staircase still exists, leading to the apartments above Personal Istanbul Tours.
If the apostle John lived in Ephesus, he probably stayed in one of these apartments, unless he had a lot of money or friends with money. He may have lived in a farmhouse in the countryside instead. Early church writings do not tell us where exactly John lived.
Life in the Apartments
These apartments were multi-storied, with one apartment on each floor. They didn’t have running water, so people had to go to public toilets across the street. The apartments had few windows and were very dark inside.
For Christians meeting in these small, crowded rooms, the conditions were difficult. They would use oil lamps for light, but these lamps produced smoke. This might have been the reason for a dangerous accident mentioned in the Bible. In Acts 20, a man named Eutychus fell out of a window while listening to Paul speak and was found dead on the street below.
