Virgin Mary’s House is located on Bulbul mountain, 9 km from Ephesus. It is believed to be the place that Mother Mary lived her last years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, before dying on cross, entrusted his mother to Saint John. He said to Saint John “Here is your mother.” So he took her as his own mother and after the Resurrection of the Christ, they traveled through Asia Minor and settled to Bulbul Mountain. She lived in the house Saint John built for her and died there when she was 64 years old.
There is an unusual story about the discovery of Virgin Mary’s House. A German nun, Anna Katherina Emmerich, who is bedridden and never traveled away, awoke in a trance with stigmata and told about Virgin Mary’s life. She described the voyage Virgin Mary and Saint John had from Jerusalem and Ephesus. She also described the rectangular shaped stone house where she lived her last years in details. She also told that Virgin Mary died at age 64 and buried in a cave near the house. The writer named Brentano recorded her words. Years after her death, a French Clergyman called Goyet traveled to Ephesus to find the house of Mary. He found it and send the word to Bishops of Paris and Rome but he couldn’t get any attention.
Two Lazarist priests and two Catholic officials traveled to Ephesus to see the house in June 27, 1891. They found Virgin Mary’s House in ruins. They reported it to Izmir and specialists and priests were sent to the site. After the restoration finished in 1897, Virgin Mary’s House became a pilgrimage for Christians. It is also considered sacred for Muslims. Every year on August 15 (the Feast of the Assumption of Mary), Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim clergy conduct a service in Virgin Mary’s House. The place is still under care of Lazarist Brothers and they perform a mass everyday. Also there are two nuns to recite Divine Office daily.
