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Priene was once a
harbor city but is now located 16 km inland from the sea on the hills of
the Mykale Mountain. It has many examples of Hellenic art and
architecture. Alexander The Great lived in this city for a time. The
theatre in Priene is one of the most beautiful ones from The Hellenic
World. The Athena Polias Temple was reconstructed by Alexander The Great
as a gift to the city.
The ancient city of Miletus was once one of the biggest cities in
Anatolia - bigger than Ephesus. It was located on the trade routes and it was for this reason
that it became very prosperous and had many colonies. Having surrendered
to the silting up of four harbors, the city's fate was much the same as
that of Ephesus. Miletus gave the alphabet to the classical world and
was also the breeding ground for many philosophers and scientists,
including Thales, who calculated precisely the arrival of the solar
eclipse. The archaeological site is notable for the great Roman Theatre
and the Baths of Faustina, while a surprising quantity of remnants from
the city's Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman eras remains for the most
part buried or overgrown with bone-dry shrubbery. Several maps and
archaeological guides are available to help you walk through the ruins,
including those sold at the entrance gate. Miletus is open daily 8:30am
to 6:30pm in summer, and until 5:30pm in winter; admission is 2YTL
($1.50).
Hidden among rolling
hills only a few miles from the scenic coast of southeastern Turkey, the
ancient site of Didyma is famous from legendary times. Here was a
natural spring where the beautiful Leto is supposed to have spent an
hour of love with Zeus, then giving birth to the twins Artemis and
Apollo (didymoi in Greek). The most important oracle site in Asia
Minor, its pronouncements to Croesus, Alexander the Great and other
great kings altered the course of human history. This temple dedicated
to Apollo was the richest and biggest of the Ionian temples on Anatolian
soil. It was to cover such a vast area, that its construction lasted
more than 150-200 years and yet it was planned to be without ceiling.
Before being plundered and burned by the Persians (c. 494 BC), the
sanctuary was in the charge of the Branchids, a priestly caste named
after Branchus, a favorite youth of Apollo. After the "Ionian Rebellion,
Alexander the Great conquered Miletus (334) and ordered its restoration
and the oracle was resanctified. The city administered the cult,
annually electing a prophet.
The temple was famous all
over the Greek world for its oracles so that it even surpassed the
reputation of Delphi. The reason for which the harbor of Panamos near
Didyma became very busy and was visited by lots of commanders, ordinary
and respected people, is that they wanted to learn their future from the
priests of the temple. The oracle ceremonies were in two steps: the
Pithy would first comment the glitters on the waters of a well and then
the priests would translate these into literal and impressive words.
About 300 BC the Milesians began to build a new temple, intended to be
the largest in the Greek world. The annual festival held there, the
Didymeia, became Panhellenic in the beginning of the 2nd century BC.
Excavations made between 1905 and 1930 revealed all of the uncompleted
new temple and some carved pieces of the earlier temple and statues. On
the ruins of the VIth century BC temple, a church was built during the
Byzantine period. Though the ruins one can see today, are of
pre-Christian age..
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