Ionic Triangle Tour

2 Days Ionic Triangle Tour

Priene Ancient Ruin

After breakfast, we will pick you up from your hotel and drive to Priene. Priene enjoys a commanding position just below Mt Mykale, giving it a real natural grandeur. This Greco-Roman site is delightful to explore, with pine trees providing shade while its isolated location deters the crowds. Like Ephesus, Priene was once a sophisticated port city with two harbors. But all that went pear-shaped when the changing course of the Meander River silted them both up. Today it's very peaceful, its elevated position giving stunning vistas across patchwork fields.

Priene was important by 300 BC (when the League of Ionian Cities held congresses and festivals here. On a high bluff backed by a stark mountain overlooking what was once the sea stands the ruined Temple of Athena Polias, dating from the 4th century BC. Priene's most prominent and influential structure was designed by Pytheos of Priene, who also designed the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum). Priene's theatre (capacity 6500) is among the best-preserved Hellenistic theatres.

Nearby lie the ruins of a Byzantine basilica from the 5th century AD (note the fine stone pulpit and steps to the apse) and Roman Baths. Also, see the nearby bouleuterion (city hall). To the west are remains of private houses, a Hellenistic synagogue; to the south are the gymnasium, stadium, and agora.

Miletus Ancient City

After Priene, we have a short drive to Miletus. Miletus (Miletos), the capital of civilization, culture, art, and science, is one of the most critical cities in human history with its 3,500-year history. It is the home of people who question and observe nature and try to understand it by thinking, which is accepted as the basis of positive science. Miletus, also known as the "city of philosophers," raised many history Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and the city planner Hippodamos.

Miletus, dominated by free thought 2,600 years ago, became a center of attraction and became the largest city of the Ionian civilization. In this cosmopolitan place, people came and lived from all over the world, and it became the capital of civilization. 

The theater of Miletus was built at the end of the 4th century BC and was significantly expanded in the 1st and 2nd centuries. The cavea section is so large that it constitutes a landmark in Miletus and the entire Menderes Plain. In the Hellenistic period, large stoas were built surrounding the South Agora. Although the agora is hidden under lush fields today, the massive infrastructures of the stoas can be easily seen in the area, giving an idea of ​​the size of the city center in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

It is only 150 meters from the Miletus Theater; The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius built the Roman Bath. This bath, which the Emperor made in the name of his wife Faustina, was repaired in specific periods. Nusa statues found here are currently exhibited in the Istanbul Archeology Museum.

Didyma The Temple of Apollo

Didyma is a sacred space dedicated to Apollo, the God of Light, Knowledge, and Enlightened Minds. In this area, shaped around a magnificent temple, there are small religious buildings and buildings used for daily life apart from the temple. Hosting one of the largest temples of the ancient period, Didyma is a dazzling ruin with its 2,300-year-old monumental ruins. The Apollon Sanctuary, where ordinary people, kings, and emperors consulted for thousands of years, has been a religious center that shapes history with the prophecies given by the priests here.

An unforgettable experience awaits visitors in the gigantic Temple of Apollo, whose construction continued for 500 years and was never finished. While walking inside the intact temple offers visitors the opportunity to experience the past and travel in time.

16:30 End of the Prien-Miletos-Didyma Tour
18:30 Arrive in Bodrum. Drop off at the hotel