Priene

The city of Priene was some five centuries old already, and had known important politicians like Bias, when the inhabitants decided to move to a more western location. The town was refounded in the fourth century BCE, perhaps after a suggestion made by Maussolus of Caria. The site of the citadel was almost impossible to reach: on the top of a very steep hill. The town itself was constructed at a lower terrace. The view on the first photo is from the battlefield of Mycale, west of Priene.

The temple of Athena Polias was presented to the city by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, who stayed here during the siege of Miletus in the summer of 334 BCE. The sanctuary was designed by an artist named Pytheos, who had also worked on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The cult statue was a copy of the famous Athena of Phidias in the Athenian Parthenon.

Priene, Agora road	Priene, House of Alexander	Priene, House of Alexander, view to Lade and Miletus	Priene, Portrait of Julius Caesar
Priene, Alexander	Priene, Theater	Priene, Episcopal Church	Terrace Wall