3 Pearls of the Aegean - Priene, Miletos and Didyma

As promised, a post about my first trip outside of Izmir...


The local "Information, Tickets and Travel" (ITT) office in conjunction with the chapel put on a trip to three ancient sites in the area.  The locations we hit were Priene, Miletos and Didyma.  One of the main reasons that I went on this trip is because I'm extremely interested in the ancient history of the area, but also because I had heard that 30ish people were going on this trip, so it seemed like a great way to meet new people since I had only met one person thus far (my sponsor/supervisor).


It didn't take long to meet the only other Lieutenant in Izmir, Steve, who works Protocol at NATO (SO glad that's not my job).  He, along with a few others, took me in instantly and now I actually have people to hang out with, which is kind of nice in a foreign country.  The apartment that I am 90% sure of getting is right across the street from Steve's, so we can set up string and cups in order to cut down on the cell phone bill.


I also had my first fish dinner in Turkey, which is quite an experience, and much more expensive than you would think being in a coastal city.


Here is a picture of a HUGE shrimp and what was left of my sea bass after I took all the meat off the bones:

Anyway, back to the trip.  Here are a few pics of the places that we visited on Saturday.  Priene and Miletos used to be coastal cities, but are now inland due to geographical changes over the last several thousand years as seen on the map below:

First, we went to Priene....A small former coastal city, settled about 1000 BC.  At one time was home to Alexander the Great (for just a few months). 

Temple of Athena in Priene...very well preserved columns (and random pieces of columns littering the ground around the temple).

Theater at Priene...pretty good size for a smaller city.

VIP seating even back then.  They didn't do much gladiator/animal fighting here...otherwise these seats might be a little dangerous.

Meander River somewhere between Priene and Miletos in what was once the ocean a few thousand years ago.

Main attraction in Miletos, the theater that held ~15,000 people.  Apostle Paul supposedly came here a few times.

Backside of the theater w/ the Turkish flag flying.  It's been under Turkish/Ottoman/Byzantine control for about 700 years.

Ruins of Didyma...The most prevalent/well-known structure seen is the Temple/Oracle of Apollo.

Amazing columns in the temple.  The Temple of Apollo is probably the second most famous Oracle of the Hellenistic world (second only to the Oracle at Delphi).

Couldn't help but take a picture of the sun being blocked out by the Temple of Apollo....ironic, right?