Guide
Priene is one of the important ancient cities of the region, set on the southern slope of Samsun mountain fifteen kilometres south-west of the town of Söke.
It was built on a steep rock at 370 metres, which gave it an advantage in holding off attack, and standing high it could also be seen from several directions.
Priene is accepted, like Miletos, as a member of the Ionian League, and the first accounts of it in the ancient sources date from the middle of the seventh century BC.
Among the more important buildings of the city are the temple of Demeter, the temple of Athena, the theatre, the agora, the temple of Zeus, the bouleuterion, the upper and lower gymnasia, the Egyptian temple, the house of Alexander the Great, a Byzantine church, the necropolis and the residential quarters.
The theatre, which held five thousand people, was built in 350 BC. The temple raised to the goddess Athena stands at the most commanding point of the city, and a statue of Athena made of gold and ivory once stood before it. Only part of the temple altar is standing today.
