Prytaneion, Priene, Turkey

Date

180 BCE-150 CE ca.

Description

"The city of Priene lies on the southern slopes of Mt. Mykale overlooking the Maeander river. The city largely excavated by the Germans in the late 19th century is planned on a strict grid, defying the steeply sloping topography of the site and imposing a rational human order on the landscape. Its well-preserved remains, with its temple of Athena, well-planned agora, theater, stadium, gymnasium, fortification walls and many excavated houses, form one of the best examples of a small Greek polis". -- http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/siteindex?lookup=Priene The Prytaneion, or Prytaneum, was most likely a meeting house and dining room for senate members. It was adjacent to the Bouleuterion in the center of the city. The building in its present state takes the form of a peristyle house: a rectangular structure with central paved, colonnaded courtyard surrounded by three small rooms on the north, two on the west and three on the south sides. The Archivision Collection of Ancient Sites was funded by the Jack Martin Balcer Library Endowment. Keywords: Turkey, Aydin Ili, Turunçlar, Turunclar, urban, hillside, Mediterranean, Greek (ancient), Imperial Roman, fortified city, ancient town, city planning, stone, marble, bearing masonry. Photographed by Scott Gilchrist, Archivision.

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