The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was burned by Herostratus in 356 BC.
Ancient writers say Herostratus deliberately set fire to the temple to make his name famous. The act occurred on the same night that Alexander the Great was born, although the connection may be a later historical detail. Ephesus punished Herostratus by executing him and banning the recording of his name.
The fire destroyed an earlier temple that had become famous for its immense size and artistic decoration. Ephesians later rebuilt it on an even grander scale, creating the structure usually associated with the Seven Wonders.
The temple’s history is sometimes confused with its final destruction. The rebuilt building survived for centuries before suffering later damage, including destruction by Goths in the third century AD. The 356 BC fire was an earlier catastrophe, not the end of the site’s entire history.