Things To See Around Selcuk

Grotto Of The Seven Sleepers

The asphalt road turning to the east from the side of the Vedius Gymnasium leads to the Grotto of the Seven Sleepers. The most important matter that the Christians in the Empire were in disagreement with the Roman state was the Emperor's Cult. According to this cult, if Christians failed to offer a sacrifice to the Emperor's Temple, the state considered them to be enemies of the emperor. These people were held subject to treatment made to enemies of the state. Seven Christian youths living during the reign of Emp. Decius in the 250's A.D. escaped from the city and took refuge in a cave because they did not wish to offer a sacrifice. The seven youths fell asleep for a while. When they awoke and arrived at the city to buy some food, they found that they had slept for not only one night but for 200 years and Christianity had spread all over the Roman Empire. Emperor Theodosius II,.Who heard of the incident accepted this to be the symbol of the 'Resurrection', the belief that the human soul will come back to life after death. This mater was discussed in the church during the period. A great funeral ceremony was held when the Seven youths passed away and a church was built on top of the cave where they were buried. In the excavation carried out in the area in 1927- 28, a church and hundreds of graves were found. The graves and the walls of the church bore inscriptions addressed to the Seven Sleepers who were considered to be sacred. The desire to be interred as close as possible to the Seven Sleepers continued for years. Some researchers have stated that they saw the writing Mary Magdelene on the wall at the inner end of the Grotto of the Seven Sleepers.