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Priene Temple of Athena. Built around 350 BC |
Today was the day for Greek antiquities. The three sites we visited, Priene, Miletus and Didyma, were all ancient Greek cities or sanctuaries, all hailing back 3rd to 7th century BC. By now, I was getting all muddled with who was who and who conquered who when. But one thing was a stand out, these people were smart enough to build amazing structures with "mod cons" like plumbing that was seemingly lost for so long afterwards.
The second thing that crossed my mind was that some of these sites who so unprotected, It felt wrong to be walking all over structures hundreds of years old albeit in ruins. Our guide did say that in some ways, it was a blessing that some of the better preserved monuments were "stolen" by the British and German as at least it was well preserved rather than being graffitied on by locals. As our older two climbed all over the giant ruins, it did cross my mind that the child who would have appreciated the history the most was not here!
Last but not least...fun fact for the day! The river than the word "meander" was derived from is here! The river did have a tortuous course and once upon a time was a waterway between Miletus and Didyma.
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One of our favourite parts of the day, having our Starbucks coffee and enjoying the view |
First stop Priene. As with most good ancient city history, it was built on several sites over history. The current site which we visited was built around 350BC. It was lovely to explore ruins in the hills amongst trees and with no one else around. The strewn rocks everywhere made it look like a Lord of The Rings film set.
Our final stop was Didyma, by this stage the brain was incapable of absorbing any more facts. Too many rebuilds!!! Most important fact, we were looking at the Temple of Apollo.
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One of the many stray dogs |
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Miletus |
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Surprise! A theatre! |
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What sort of gladiator poses are these?! |
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The rest of the ruins of Miletus |
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Temple of Apollo at Didyma |
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Some serious columns |
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Ramp to inner sanctuary |
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Originally erected sometime in the 6-7th century BC |
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Ancient graffiti |
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Fried fish for lunch! |
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The "meander" motif |
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