April 10: Miletus, Priene, and Rain!

Today was dedicated to the Ionian Greeks.  After a lazy morning attempting to wait out the rain, we left Didyma for Miletus.   Between rainstorms, we got a chance to see ruins from the Greek town that was home to the philosopher Thales, a beautiful theatre, and the ruins of the town.  We also saw several creatures, including a weasel, but Flora was in direct competition with Fauna today, as we saw fields of wildflowers that are cultivated – and in my garden – at home.  The museum was excellent, with artefacts from the Mycenaean and Minoan ages – some amazingly intact – right up to the Roman era.  We then crossed the famous Meander River – twice, as it lives up to the word it created – and headed to the hillside town of Priene.  It was a thrill to know that we were walking and sitting where Alexander the Great had been.  We passed the ancient town of Magnesia, and arrived at our comfortable hotel in Selçuk.  Tomorrow will either be Ephesus day or museum day, depending on the weather.

We awoke this morning to a brief moment of sunshine, followed by torrential rain.  The steam rollered lane next to our hotel was a river, and we decided to take our time getting packed up to go.  We had a great breakfast outside, where we were warm if a trifle damp.  Unfortunately, the rain prevented the workers from working on the road, and after a desperate attempt to escape down back lanes, we headed back through the construction site, including through a 50 metre puddle with no idea what lay underneath – or how deep the water actually was.

The Gimli redeemed itself today by finding both our sites, and the hotel, perfectly.  Of course, I made sure we were on the right road on the map as well.

I don’t think you could find a place with more history than Miletus.  It had an ideal site in antiquity, with three harbours on the Aegean wrapping around it, although the Meander River has long since silted up the site.  This has made it difficult to prove who the first inhabitants of the site were, since their artefacts are under 3700 years of silt!.  We do know that the Minoans had a strong influence, and named the site.  Later, the Mycenaeans and Achaeans came to the area, fleeing the Doric invasions in Greece.  In all, the area has been controlled by the Hittites, Carians, Persians, Greeks, Persians again, liberated by Alexander the Great, Hellenized Carians, Greeks again, and Romans.  The Milesian School, especially the philosophers Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, were the first to suggest that there are natural causes for all phenomena, and are sometimes thought of as the first scientists. 

When we first arrived, our faces must have fallen when we saw the four or five tour buses in the parking lot.  However, the tour groups only see the theatre and then see an overview of the valley.  Ian and I climbed to the top of the Byzantine citadel, found the ancient and overgrown roads, and maneuvered through the ruins, hampered a bit by the lack of paths and the fact that much of the site was under a lot of water!  I blamed the rain, but Ian pointed out that aquatic turtles and frogs – and there were lots of them – would not be there if the site dried out every year.  Again the marble carvings were beautiful, as was the site itself. 

Any day is a good day to be on vacation in Turkey!  I was glad I got to wear some of my "cool weather" clothes, and Ian had a pocket big enough for the guide book.  Almost!

The theatre.  The tour group is in the Emperor's box, marked off with columns.

The vaulted tunnel between the lower cavea (seats) and the top cavea of the theatre. 

I think I've figured out why anything with an arch is still standing.  Would YOU stand on top of this to take away the stones?  This is from the Roman Harbour Baths, now a long way inland.

A lot of the site was covered in this beautiful flower, which I guess the sheep don't eat.  Before it blooms, it looks like a day lily, and I've heard it called "poor man's orchid", but I don't know what it really is.  We occasionally had to move a sheep to see the site!

Do you see the interpretive sign over there in the middle of the pond?  Those are baths directly in front, and the pillars are part of the Ionic stoa.  We made it to the stoa, but had to turn back.  At our feet, seven frogs jumped into the pond as we walked up, one after the other!

The best preserved buildings are the Faustina Baths, where both the cauldarium and the frigidarium are still standing.  This is the frigidarium pool, with a statue of a god reclining against the far wall, and a lion fountain on one side.

 After two-and-a-half hours of wandering, mostly in the sunshine by now, we headed back to the caravansary for a a restorative glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice and some water, next we headed for the museum, which holds many of the treasures from the area, including those from Priene and Didyma.

Outside the museum they have an outdoor display area, where this fellow is part of a hunting scene.

I really like this votive statue, only about 6" high.

Three Mycenaean pitchers.  The one in front is almost intact!

We drove across the river delta trhough what was once ocean, and crossed the Meander River, which is famous for its twisty, turning route.  In fact, the pattern sometimes called a Greek Key is referred to here as a Meander.

Next we arrived at the town of Priene, which is quite a hike from the entrance way, and quite steep.  I was pretty please to find that Ian and I were able to keep ahead of the two tour groups that arrived the same time that we did.  German tourists are the ones we meet most often, and Ian occasionally translates for me, but I sure wish I had Eleanor Stringer along at times.

There is a beautiful temple of Athena, but this was a very religious place, I think, as there are also temples to Asclepius, Demeter, Cybele, the Egyptian gods, a “rock” temple, and the house, or temple of Alexander the Great.  Alexander stayed in Priene when he besieged Miletus to release it from Persian hands, and the area where he stayed became a temple.  It was a bit of a walk to get there, but there was something impressive in thinking that Alexander the Great had looked up at the same mountain and seen the same sky.  Like us, he could see the weather coming in from a long way off, and like us, he couldn’t do much about it but seek shelter.

Ian in the bouleuterion, where the elected officials met.  It looks like a theatre, but with square corners.

Huddling for warmth on Main Street (the Sacred Way).  We will need to get out of the habit of climbing all over the ruins before we go to Greece!

Ian looked at all of the column drums lying around and couldn't help but think about how they managed to cut flutes into all of the columns and make them so that they line up perfectly, and never figured out how to make a gear.

I cropped this from a picture of the sheep at Priene.  This little guy was dancing in the temple of Alexander the Great!

The temple of Athen at Priene

A good view of the weather.  The valley far below was once open water.  The city walls are in the foreground, and you can see the rain pummeling down in the distance.