Editing Priene (section)

==Archaeological excavations and current state==
[[File:Turquie Priene Allee Principale - panoramio.jpg|thumb|The main street]]
[[File:Upper gymnasium in Priene.jpg|thumb|The Roman baths]]
The ruins, which fell on the successive terraces where they were built, were the object of investigatory missions sent out by the English [[Society of Dilettanti]] in 1765 and 1868. They were excavated by [[Theodor Wiegand]] (1895–1899) for the [[Altes Museum|Berlin Museum]].

The city, as developed at this site that was new in the 4th century, was found to have been laid out on a rectangular scheme. The steep area faces south, the [[acropolis]] rising nearly {{convert|200|m}} behind it. The city was enclosed by a wall {{convert|2|m}} thick, with towers at intervals and three principal gates.

On the lower slopes of the acropolis was a sanctuary of [[Demeter]]. The town had six main streets, about {{convert|6|m}} wide, running east and west, and fifteen streets about {{convert|3|m}} wide crossing at right angles, all being evenly spaced. It was thus divided into about 80 ''[[insulae]]''. Private houses were apportioned eight to an insula. The systems of water-supply and drainage are still visible. The houses present many analogies with the earliest ones of [[Pompeii]].

In the western half of the city, on a high terrace north of the main street and approached by a fine stairway, was the [[Temple of Athena Polias (Priene)|temple of Athena Polias]]. It was a [[Peripteros|hexastyle peripteral]] structure in the [[Ionic order]] built by [[Pythius of Priene|Pytheos]], the architect of the [[Mausoleum of Maussollos]] at Halikarnassos, one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]. In 1870, silver tetradrachms of Orophernes, and some jewellery were found in excavations under the base of the statue of Athena. These were probably deposited at the time of the [[Cappadocian]] restoration.

[[File:Sanctuary of Asclepius, Priene.jpg|thumb|left|The sanctuary of Asclepius]]
An ancient [[Priene Synagogue]], with carved images of the [[Menorah (Temple)|menorah]], has also been discovered.<ref>Nadin Burkhardt, Mark Wilson, "[https://www.academia.edu/15534822/With_Nadin_Burkhardt_The_Late_Antique_Synagogue_in_Priene_Its_History_Architecture_and_Context The Late Antique Synagogue in Priene: Its History, Architecture, and Context]", ''Gephyra'' 10 (2013), pp.166-196</ref>

Around the [[agora]], the main square crossed by the main street, is a series of halls. The municipal buildings, buleuterion and prytaneion, lie north of the agora. Further to the north is the Upper Gymnasium with Roman baths, and the well-preserved Hellenistic theatre. These and most other public structures are at the centre of the plan. Temples of [[Asclepius]] and the Egyptian gods [[Isis]], [[Serapis]] and [[Anubis]], have been revealed. At the lowest point on the south, within the walls, was the large stadium. In Hellenistic times, it was  connected with a gymnasium.<ref>{{cite book|first=Frank|last=Rumscheid|title=Priene: A Guide to the Pompeii of Asia Minor|year=1998|isbn=975-8070-16-9|publisher=Ege Yayınları|location=Turkey}}</ref>