Priene, Miletus, and Didyma

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Today we headed for Priene and Miletus. Once important seaports, they’re both several kilometers from the Aegean because the river Menderes has been depositing silt and building up the shoreline. Note my referral of the Harbour Monument in Miletus. On the way we drove past Kusudasi and saw the beautiful vacation homes and cruise ships docked in the harbor. The Aegean looked wonderful, with islands just offshore.

Priene is south of Selcuk, located on the craggy slopes of Mt Mykale. It was important around 300 BC. There we climbed a lot of steep paths and stairs. I forgot to mention that in earlier times the folks must have been very tall. The rise of these stairs is unbelievable! It was sunny and hot especially after all the climbing but so worth it.

Hope you’re not bored with more photos of ruins, but hey, that’s why we came here. There is the ruins of the Temple of Athena that has five columns still standing. Sections of the remaining columns are strewn around like giant stone wheels. Richard had fun rolling one around. The theatre (dating back to the Helenistic period) had a 6,500 person capacity. We took turns sitting in the VIP seats.

We stopped for lunch in Priene and bought a guidebook of Efes, Priene, and Miletus with colorful overlays. We thought we did good until we toured a marble factory. The owner/worker sent us on our way with the piece he made for us to demonstrate his skills and machinery and chided us for not buying HIS guidebook with overlays for ten Lira less.

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Photos

VIP seating in theatre
My turn

Column Piece
Richard rearranging the columns