The Prytaneum hosted this shrine, where the city's eternal flame was tended by vestal virgins, and was fronted by a giant statue of Artemis, now in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk. The fertility goddess was portrayed with huge breasts and arms extended in welcome, though her hands (probably crafted from gold) are long gone.
Many of the statues of deities, emperors and other luminaries here originally had precious gemstones for eyes – another indicator of Ephesian wealth.