This site, demurely called the 'Love House' on signboards, is eagerly anticipated by visitors, but its rather dishevelled state makes envisioning licentious goings-on a challenge. Indeed, some experts believe that visiting sailors and merchants simply used it as a guesthouse and bath, which of course would not necessarily exclude prostitution services on demand. The priapic statue of Bes in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk was found in a well here.
Whatever the brothel's fundamental purpose, its administrators reputedly required visitors to this windowless structure to undergo various degrees of cleansing before entering the inner areas, which were adorned with little statues of Venus and mosaics of the four seasons (Winter and Autumn still visible). Rumours also abound about the possible existence of a secret underground tunnel connecting the brothel to the Library of Celsus opposite.
