PRIENE - MILETUS - DIDYMA

Priene: A prominent city around 300 B.C., famous for its festivals and congresses attracting visitors from other Ionian city states. Preserved near to perfection, Priene has not changed its appearance much over the last 2000 years, probably due to the fact that it was a planned city. Miletus: 22 km. south of Priene, Miletus is famous for first applying the grid system in city planning. An important commercial and political center among the Ionian colonies between 700 BC. and 700 AD., Miletus has a 15.000 seated theater which is in pretty good condition today. Didyma: This is the site to the very renowned Temple of Apollo, where an oracle of great fame once dwelt. Didyma, unlike Miletus and Priene was not an ancient city, but the home for a god. As in a monastery, only priests lived there, who had originated from Delphi. The Temple of Apollo, of 120 columns with spectacular carvings, has also an interesting Medusa head in its grounds, which is the main attraction.