The Cave of the Seven Sleepers, located near the ancient city of Ephesus, is known both in Islam and Christianity as the cave where the seven youths slept.
The Ahsab-ı Kehf Cave, mentioned in the Qur’an in Surah Al-Kahf, is generally accepted as being located in Tarsus or Afşin, according to the Muslim tradition. However, the Christian world has embraced the site in Ephesus.
Around AD 250, during the reign of Emperor Decius, seven Christian youths (commonly named as Malta, Malchus, Martinianus, Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constantine in various sources) refused to offer sacrifices to the deified emperor and sought refuge in a cave after receiving death threats. The ruler ordered the entrance of the cave to be walled off. The Seven Sleepers fell asleep for a period. When they woke up and went to the city to buy food, they were unaware of the passage of time. Yemliha, one of the seven, handed over an ancient coin when buying bread, realizing that they were not in Decius’s time (249-251) but rather during the reign of the 11th Theodosius (408-450). Furthermore, they had slept for 200 years with their friends. With Christianity becoming widespread throughout the Roman Empire, Yemliha returned to the cave to inform his friends, and they decided to go back to sleep, never to wake up again.
After the death of the seven youths, a grand funeral was held, and a church was built over the cave where they were buried. In previous excavations in the area, a church and numerous graves were found. Inscriptions addressing the sacred Seven Sleepers were seen on the walls of the church and graves, confirming that this was the legendary church. The vicinity also houses an important necropolis of the Ephesus Ancient City.
NOTE: Entry into the cave is not allowed as wandering inside may cause damage to the structures and graves.