Priene

The site of Ionian Priene is not known. It probably lies deep under the alluvial plain of the Maeander. It certainly did not occupy the site of the new Priene which Athens founded in the middle of the fourth century B.C. as a rival to Miletus and which Alexander the Great helped to complete after 334 B.C. The principal temple was dedicated to Athena by Alexander himself. Under Turkish rule from the end of the 13th century Priene, now called Samsun Kalesi, declined and decayed.

Excavations

Systematic excavations were begun in 1895 by Carl Humann for the Imperial Museums in Berlin. After his death Theodor Wiegand continued the work which was completed in 1898. Important finds from the site can be seen in the British Museum, the Louvre, the Pergamon Museum in Berlin and also in Istanbul.

Near the church of Priene is a path which runs up to the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. Of the two statues which once stood outside the entrance one can now be seen in a Berlin Museum. The sanctuary itself, a temple in antis of unusual form and fitted with wooden roof-trusses, is badly damaged. To the left of the temple is a sacrificial pit.

On the right of the street which leads west from the East Gate of Priene above the Sanctuary of Isis lies a well-preserved example of a third century B.C. theater. Only eight rows of seating have been excavated in the auditorium. The city's principal Byzantine church can be reached through the middle of the stage building.

The finely coursed town walls (2m/6.5ft thick) of Priene extend on both right and left for 2.5km/1.5mi up the citadel. Apart from the walls themselves there are practically no ancient remains on the summit. A rough footpath leads up from the lower town to the acropolis, the place of refuge in emergencies.

To the east of the Temple of Demeter in Priene, adjoining a tower on the town walls, is a settling basin which was constructed in such a way that the water could be purified without interrupting supplies. The water was brought from Mount Mykale. From here it is possible to climb up the steps to the summit of the hill or descend to the East Gate.