Priene
Priene lies in Güllübahçe at a distance of 15 kilometers (9 miles)
from Söke town nearby Kusadasi, in the Aegean region of Turkey. The city
was founded in the 2nd millennium BC in an unknown location nearby and
then carried to its present location on the clifs around 350 BC. The
visit of the archeological site requires some steep walking up after the
car park, following a footpath and some steps through the Hellenistic
city walls.
Miletus
Miletus is located in the vicinity of Söke town, nearby Kusadasi, in
the Aegean region of Turkey). The city was built on the seashore in the
ancient times. The Miletus people who had founded about 90 colonies in
the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, after 650 BC, had resisted the
Persian invasions in Anatolia, but they were defeated finally and the
city was destroyed by the Persians in 5th century BC.
When you arrive at the ruins, the magnificent theater of the city
appears in sight at first. The theater had been constructed during the
Hellenistic period and it acquired its present characteristics by means
of the annexes made during the Roman period. The walls of the front
facade of the theater are 140 meters long and 30 meters high, and are an
interesting example of stone workmanship. The theater was large enough
to hold 24.000 people, but a fortress was built upon it during the
Byzantine period seizing its capacity down to 15.000 people.
Didyma
Didyma (nearby Didim, in the Aegean region of Turkey) was a cult
center for the city of Miletus. It is located in the present day village
of Yeniköy, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the site of Miletus. In
ancient times, these two cities were connected to each other by a
sacred road that had statues located on either side of it.
The Didymaion, the temple of Apollo and its oracle at Didyma, had a
considerable reputation in the ancient times. German archaeologists
excavating at the site have shown that the earliest sanctuary here was
built in the 8th century BC and that it was enlarged into an enormous
temple around 560 BC. After their bloody suppression of the Ionian
rebellion, the Persians sacked and laid waste to Miletus (which they
regarded as the instigator) and the Didymaion in 494 BC. It was during
this assault that the temple’s cult statue of Apollo was carried off to
Ecbatana (modern Hamadan town in Iran). After Alexander the Great
defeated the Persians in 334 BC, the Ionian cities regained their
independence and work was begun on reconstructing the temple of Apollo.
