MILETUS

The ruins of the ancient city of Miletus lie on a hill encircled by the waters of the Büyük Menderes near the Aegean coast. As is the case with nearby Priene, the progressive accumulation of riverborn debris has played a considerable role in the city's historical and economical vicissitudes.

A large number of archaeological finds of the Mycenaean age indicate the existence of an old Mycenaean colony in the middle of the second 

millennium B.C. It became an important Ionian center of commerce and as its prosperity increased, Miletus established a large number of colonies throughout the Mediterranean area and along the coasts of the Black Sea. Culturally the city flourished and was the birthplace of the philosophers Anaximes and Anaximander, the historian and geographer Hecataeus, and the architects Hippodamos and Isidorus. When it fell into the hands of the Persians they razed it to the ground to punish its rebel tendencies. Some time later the city was rebuilt; as part of the Roman empire (2^nd cent. B.C.) it once more acquired some of its ancient prestige, which however was rapidly threatened by the silting up of the port and the consequent loss in importance and decline of commercial activities. Archaeological investigation of the zone of Miletus, begun at the turn of the century, is still in course.

The most frequently visited attraction is the Theatre. Scenographically set against the hill, it was originally built around the 4th century B.C. and was enlarged in the Hellenistic period when it had a seating capacity of 5,300. Its present size is the result of a reconstruction undertaken in Roman times (2^nd cent. A.D.), which brought its seating capacity to a maximum of 15,000. Further on what is left of two lion structures set to guard the entrance to the port can still be seen. The remains of the Sanctuary of the Delphic Apollo represent the principal place of 

worship in the city. Built in the archaic period, the edifice was transformed in Doric style in the Hellenistic age; during Roman domination the porticoes were rebuilt in Corinthian style.

Other important vestiges include the Bonleuterion, which was probably erected under Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria (second half 2^nd cent, B.C.), the southern Agora (market place built in the Hellenistic age) and the Stadium (2^nd cent. B.C.), which contained up to 15,000 spectators. Near the southern agora stands the Ilyas Bey Cmii. This square mosque (15^th cent.) has a dome and is notable for its fine architectural design as well as the profusion of fine marble inlays and for its decor. Particularly noteworthy is the prayer niche (mihrab).

The Baths of Faustina were named after the wife of Marcus Aurelius who donated them in the second half of the 2^nd century A.D. The bath complex is extremely well preserved even though it does not fit into the urban network of orthogonal streets planned by Hippodamus. The central courtyard was surrounded by Corinthian columns. The palaestra could be reached through the dressing room (apodyterium) where the statues of the Muses, now in the Museum of Istanbul, were found. Of the rooms which were 

part of the bathing establishment itself mention can be made of the frigdarium, decorated with sculpture which served as a fountain for the pool in the center, the calidarium composed of two apsed rooms furnished with hypocausts for heating, and the tepidarium.