The House of the Virgin Mary is a small stone chapel on the eastern slope of Mount Koressos, about seven kilometres above the Ephesus archaeological site. According to a tradition recorded by the apostle John and confirmed in the nineteenth century by the visions of the German nun Anne Catherine Emmerich, Mary travelled to Ephesus with John after the crucifixion and lived her last years on this hillside.
The site was rediscovered in 1881 by a French priest who followed Emmerich's written descriptions to within fifty metres of the foundations. Excavations found a first-century house on exactly the indicated spot. The Catholic Church has not formally pronounced on the authenticity of the location but has recognised the site as worthy of pilgrimage; Pope Paul VI visited in 1967, John Paul II in 1979, Benedict XVI in 2006 and Francis in 2014.
For visitors the site is small but moving. A short walk from the car park brings you to the chapel itself, where a Mass is celebrated each morning. Below the chapel is a spring whose water is collected by pilgrims, and a long wall where ribbons of prayer and petition are tied by visitors of every faith. Cypress trees and quiet shade. The walk from the car park back to the chapel is paved and gently graded; mobility is not an issue.
