Near the Turkish resort of Didim is the ancient city of Prien, one of the twelve most famous ancient cities of Asia Minor. The polis is very well well preserved to this day, and now represents an excellent example of a Hellenistic city.
Priene was founded in the eleventh century BC by Epitus, son of Neleus, and is situated at the foothills of the hill of Mycale. This Ionian city was originally located on the coast of the Latmian Gulf and had two harbours in which a small fleet stood. Prien belonged to a union of twelve Ionian cities and was only 17 kilometres from the famous Miletus. Ten kilometres from the polis flowed the river Meander. However, in the middle of the 4th century, due to the sedimentation of this river, the coastline of the river was pushed further out to sea, and the city was several kilometres from the water line. Just at that time, Priene was being rebuilt after being destroyed by the Persians and the city had to be moved. In the 3rd-2nd centuries BC Priene was part of the Seleucid, then Pergamon kingdoms; later it was a provincial city of the Roman Empire and Byzantium rule, the city was the seat of the Byzantine bishop. Later, due to heavy subsidence caused by the sedimentation of the river, Priene lost its former importance. This may have led to the town's demise. But there are other versions of this story. One of them claims that an earthquake Prien's demise was caused by an earthquake, another blames it on a malaria epidemic.
The city existed until the 13th century, when an attack by the Turks and the sea's further retreat of the sea made it a small village, which completely lost its former importance. In spite of this, Prien is perfectly preserved and contains practically no contains virtually no later reconstructions, such as Ephesus. That's why it's is considered one of the finest ancient monuments on the Aegean coast.
Priene is one of the few polis of Hellas that have survived to our time a fairly complete record of Hellenistic urban planning. The ruins of the city are in the form of terraces, and were therefore the subject of detailed scientific study by the English Society of Dilettantes in 1765 and 1768, and in 1895 - 1899 they were thoroughly studied by Theodore Wegand for the Berlin Museum. At the end of the 19th century they were studied by Carl Humann, who found that the city was built according to the system of the architect Hippodamus. The Prien was divided by six streets into 80 mini-quarters, the dimensions of which approximately 42 metres by 35 metres. The quarters contained four dwellings, and a whole block was usually occupied by public buildings. The architect's the architect's skill in fitting such a strict rectangular urban composition into the mountainous terrain. Only in Pompeii has this layout of the city has survived intact in Pompeii, but it's at least three centuries younger than Priene's.
One of the first to be built in Priene was an ancient theatre, otherwise known as the Acropolis and dating from the 4th century BC. In the 2nd century AD, the Romans Romans reconstructed it, in particular they rebuilt the stage. The theatre sits at the the very top of one of the spurs of the mountain, at the base of which the ancient city. From here you can enjoy a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside. The theatre is designed in horseshoe-shaped theatre in the classical Hellenic style and is small in size. Its The highlight is that in the centre is an altar, formerly used for the sacred offerings to Dionysus. The theatre originally had 50 tiers of benches and a seating capacity of 50 and the stage was 18 metres long. The most striking feature of the structure is the presence of five large marble thrones for local dignitaries. The theatre is perfectly preserved. Behind the building you can see the ruins of a Byzantine basilica.
Prien's most famous monument is the Temple of Athena, which sits against the backdrop of a steep cliff and is visible from the centre of the city sheer cliff and is visible from a great distance. It was designed by architect Pytheas, who was also the author of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The temple was dedicated to Athena Polias, which translates as "guardian of the city". Construction of the temple began in the mid-fourth century BC, when Alexander the Great liberated Priene from Persian rule. It was he who who provided the money to build the temple of Athena. An inscription dedicating the temple by Alexander the Great is preserved in the British Museum in the form of fragments of a huge cult statue of the goddess. Construction lasted about two centuries. The length and width of the base of the temple are approximately 37 and 20 metres. A colonnade of 6 rows of 11 columns surrounded the temple, but only five Ionic columns have survived. The proportions and methods of construction of the temple were used as a standard even during the Roman times, when the structure was rededicated to Athena Polias and Augustus, the new Roman emperor. At that time, all existing sanctuaries and temples of the Priene were being adapted to house busts and statues of the emperor, his family and ancestors. In front of the temple of Athena, the ruins of a magnificent altar have been preserved.
On the highest terrace of the city, just north of the temple, are the sanctuaries of Demeter and Cora, which are one and a half to two centuries older than any other structure in the in the city. And a little below the temple of Athena is the centre of the city's vital activity - the Agora (market square). It dates back to the 3rd century BC. In its northern part is a sacred hall 16 metres long, and on three sides it is bounded by columned porticoes. Nearby is the Bulevterium (parliament building), with a seating capacity for 640 people, next to which is a place for the sacred fire, the pretapeon. The temple of Zeus Olympian is at the eastern end of the agora, and the market is in the western part of the agora. On either side of the road that connects the agora to the western gate, on either side of the road that connects the agora to the western gate are once wealthy dwellings, some of which have walls up to 1.5 metres thick. The recently discovered staircases of the houses prove that in ancient times they had at least two floors. In addition, in Priene you can see the ruins of the Gymnasium, stadium and thermae, which are in rather poor condition.
