Priene

On the right (North West) a residential area that is rarely visited today stretched from the Temple of Athena. First of all, on the right side of the so-called. ul. Teatralna, you can see the foundations of former houses. Ok. 100 m north, towards the Acropolis, lie the remains of the Temple of Demeter. Kora / Persephone was also worshiped here (daughter of Zeus and Demeter; kidnapped by the god of the underworld Hades, she became his wife). Symbol Demeter, goddess of fertility, he was minted in the form of a grain of wheat on the city's coins. The complex was built in the 4th century. p.n.e., The Romans added their altar, and the most interesting residue (outside the temple) there is a stone pool embedded in the ground, into which flowed the blood of animals sacrificed to Demeter and Persephone – chthonic deities (underground).

Next, high on the hill, there was an acropolis, after which nothing is left except the ruins of a fortress from the 4th century. p.n.e., belonging to the series of walls, there is a steep path along the walls, and the hardships of climbing are rewarded with a wonderful view of the city and the Meander valley.

After returning to the ruins of the city, going south past the theater, on the eastern side of the ruins of the Byzantine church we can find the faint remains of the 4th century gymnasium. p.n.e. Originally it consisted of the bar (exercise yard) and the peristyle around it, but the Romans added baths to the complex (from the north side). Heading further south, after crossing the former ul. Athens, we come to the bouleuterion, that is, the building of daily city council meetings (in the theater, the council met on very important matters). It has an unusual rectangular shape

(originally bouleuterions were shaped like theaters and odeons – semicircular amphitheater), and in the middle of the former hall there is a piece of the altar or the rostrum. The building could accommodate 500 people. A prytaneon was adjacent to the bouleuterion (seat of administrative authorities), in which the holy fire of the goddess of the hearth of Hestia burned. Both buildings date back to the middle of the 2nd century. p.n.e. From the south it adjoined them (separating the two tabernacles from the agora) so-called. holy hall (stoa). It was built in 130 r. p.n.e., was long on 160 m, wide on 12 m and it was entered by stairs, because the portico was above the level of the street separating the hall from the agora. Stoa was divided into two aisles: inside, covered with a wooden roof resting on the 24 Ionic columns, and external, open, along which they were located 49 columns in Doric order.

Having crossed the street, we will find ourselves in the agora (75×35 m) dated on the 3rd century. p.n.e. On three sides it was surrounded by porticoes in the Doric order. Through the north it opened onto the main street of the city (we went through, walking from the side of the holy hall), and there were shops along the south and west. In the middle of the square you can see the remains of an altar dedicated to Hermes, that is, the god of commerce and merchants. Next to it was something like a tribune for dignitaries, who sat here during important ceremonies

sometimes taking place in the agora. On the eastern side, the temple of Zeus adjoined it, after which only the foundations have survived. Like the agora, it was founded in 111 w. p.n.e., eight centuries later it was rebuilt by the Byzantines, arranging in this place a kind of mini-fortress. The temple was a rectilinear, that is, it had only one row of columns in the facade (exactly four, in Ionic order).

About 100 m south of the agora are the ruins of the lower gymnasium. It was bigger than the gymnasium located near the theater and it behaved better than the former one. It was created approx. 130 r. p.n.e. The Palestra was surrounded by a peristyle of four Doric porticoes. There was a portal to the street in the western portico, which you walked to the city center. Numerous graffiti have survived (carved in stone) young men, who thus perpetuated their names. The eastern portico led straight to the stadium (dated to the same period as the gymnasium), which was almost long 200 m. The rows of seats were only on the north side, because from the south the terrain was too steep. The starting line for runners can still be recognized in the stadium.