| Priene,
birthplace of Bias, the famous 6th century BC philosopher who |
| numbered
among the seven wise men of classical antiquity, is a magnificent |
| ancient
city near Güllübahçe southwest of Söke in the province of Aydın. The |
| city
has been described as the Pompeii of Anatolia on account of its well |
| preserved
houses. It is not known when Priene was originally founded, and |
| the
earliest finds belonging to the city are coins bearing the head of
Athena |
| struck
in the 5th century BC. The city we see today was rebuilt in the 4th |
| century
BC according to the grid plan of the famous architect Hippodamos of |
| Miletus,
to become one of the most beautiful cities of the Hellenistic age.
The |
| city's
patron goddess was Athena. On the coast, then much closer than it
is |
| today,
was the city's port, |
| |
| Naulokhos,
but the site of this town has not yet been discovered.Priene was a |
| member
of the Panionic League of Ionian city states, whose twelve members |
| included
Ephesus, Miletus, and Samos, and it was Priene which governed the |
| leaguedr
religious and administrative centre, the Panionion. During the Roman |
| Empire
Priene maintained its splendour, and under the Byzantines it became, |
| like
Miletus, a leading diocese of Anatolia.By the end of the Byzantine
era, |
| however,
the city had declined, and was thereafter abandoned entirely. The |
| first
excavations here were carried out by Carl Humann in 1895 and |
| archaeologists
are still at work here today.The Temple of Athena in Priene is |
| the
loveliest of all Ionic temples. It was built in the 4th century by
Pytheos, |
| architect
of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the |
| world.
The temple became rich on revenues from salt produced in salt pans
on |
| the
coast.The theatre is one of the most imposing and best preserved |
| Hellenistic
theatres, with an estimated capacity of five thousand spectators.
At |
| the
bottom of the tiers are five magnificent seats with arms reserved
for people |
| of
high rank. The other major structures at Priene are the bouleuterion
or |
| senate
house which is in an excellent state of preservation and seated 640 |
| people,
and the prytaneion just to the west where the city's sacred fire burned |
| and
the executive council conducted their affairs.There are two gymnasiums, |
| known
as the upper and lower gymnasiums, where the youth of Priene were |
| educated
and trained in athletics. The lower gymnasium lies in the south part |
| of
the city and adjoins the stadium. As well as various reading and training |
| rooms,
there are well preserved wash rooms. The boys who studied here over |
| two
thousand years ago wrote their names on the walls of their classroom,
just |
| as
schoolchildren today scratch their names on desks or walls. |
| |
| One
boy, for example, wrote, 'This is the place of Epikouros, son of |
| Pausanias'.
Other major buildings in the city include the temenos or sacred |
| enclosure
of the Egyptian gods, the Temple of Zeus, the agora, the Temple of |
| Demeter,
the Rock Temple, the stadium, and several Byzantine buildings |
| Priene
holds an important place in the history of urban planning, as one
of the |
| cities
where the grid plan of Hippodamus can be seen at its best. The houses |
| of
Priene, like its monuments, are among the finest examples of the time.
Most |
| of
the surviving villas where the wealthy citizens of Priene lived are
situated |
| just
north of the Temple of Athena. The House of Alexander the Great on
the |
| West
Gate Street was so-called because Alexander is known to have stayed |
| here,
and the building was later converted into a temple. Off the main streets |
| like
the West Gate Street, Temple of Athena Street, Theatres Street and
Gate |
| of
the Spring Street, numerous side streets run at rightangles. The city
walls |
| are
in very good condition. The acropolis stands on a hill just north
of the |
| city.When
wandering through the ruins of ancient cities, images of the |
| inhabitants
of long ago going about their daily lives, with their own worries, |
| joys
and sorrows, always come to mind. |
| |
| In
Priene, as you walk along the ancient streets, this sense of the past
is even |
| more
haunting. As you sit on the steps of the theatre, the agora or the
Temple |
| of
Athena, looking out over the plane stretching out into the distance
below, |
| remember
that two thousand years ago most of that land was sea. Then |
| perhaps
you might see a sailing ship gliding away towards Miletus. |
