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Ephesus is believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers. The story of the Seven Sleepers, who are considered saints by Catholics and Muslims, tells that they were persecuted because of their belief in God and that they slept in a cave near Ephesus for centuries.

The Roman Martyrology mentions the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus under the date of 27 July, as follows: Commemoration of the seven Holy Sleeper of Ephesus, who, it is recounted, after undergoing martyrdom, rest in peace, awaiting the day of resurrection. The Byzantine Calendar commemorates them with feasts on 4 August and 22 October. Some Muslims also venerate them as saints.

A legend about them tells of the falling asleep of seven young men in a cave, who wake up after a great deal of time has passed. The basic outline of the tale appears in Gregory of Tours (b. 538 - d. 594), and in Paul the Deacons (b. 720 - d. 799) History of the Lombards. The best-known version of the story appears in Jacobus de Voragines Golden Legend. Their story also appears in the Quran (Surah 18, verse 9-26) [1], which also includes a dog among the seven.

The outline of the story is that during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Decius, around 250, seven young men were accused of Christianity. They were given some time to recant their faith. Instead they gave their worldly goods to the poor, and retired to a mountain to pray, where they fell asleep. The emperor, seeing that their attitude towards paganism had not improved, ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed.

Decades passed. At some later time — usually, during the reign of Theodosius (379 - 395) — the landowner decided to open up the sealed mouth of the cave, to use it as a cattle pen. He opened it and found the sleepers inside. They awoke, imagining that they had slept but one day. One of their number returned to Ephesus. He was astounded to find buildings with crosses attached; the townspeople were astounded to find a man trying to spend old coins from the reign of Decius. The bishop was summoned to interview the sleepers; they told him their miracle story, and died praising God.

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Seven Sleepers