PRIENE

Originally Priene, along with Miletos, Herakleia and Myus was one of important harbour towns around the Gulf of Latmia. Priene was originally established on a peninsula with two harbours. Nevertheless, it has not been possible to ascertain the exact site of this first city. Present day Priene with its grid like system of streets, introduced by Hippodamos of Miletos, is a superb and early example of town planning. Priene was also hometown of Bias who was considered one of the seven sages of the world. Priene was at the center of the maritime trading towns, linked more by cult than politics. The town had 5,000 inhabitants and was never of great political significance. In 334 BC Alexander the Great assigned it the task of watching unreliable Miletos. He lived in the city and paid for the building of the Temple of Athena. In the Byzantine period the city was the seat of a bishop for a time, with the Meander as symbol on its coins, in the 13C it fell to the Seljuks as they pressed West.