Editing Priene (section)

===Later years===
[[File:Theatre at Priene - View from the Cheap Seats - panoramio.jpg|thumb|right|Greek theatre at Priene]]
Despite the expectations, Priene lasted only a few centuries as a deep-water port. In the 2nd century CE [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] reports that the Maeander already had silted over the inlet in which [[Myus]] stood, and that the population had abandoned it for [[Miletus]].<ref>''Description of Greece'' Book 7 Section 2.11.</ref>
While Miletus apparently still had an open port then, according to recent geoarchaeological research, Priene had already lost the port and open connection to the sea in about the 1st century BCE.<ref>Marc Müllenhoff ''Geoarchäologische, sedimentologische und morphodynamische Untersuchungen im Mündungsgebiet des Büyük Menderes (Mäander), Westtürkei'' Marburg/Lahn 2005</ref> Its merchants likely had preceded most residents in relocation to Miletus. By 300 CE the entire Bay of Miletus, except for Lake Bafa, was silted in.

Today Miletus is many miles from the sea. Priene stands at the edge of a fertile plain, now a checkerboard of privately owned fields. A Greek village remained after the population decline. After the 12th century CE, more Turkish people moved into the area. In the 13th century CE Priene was known as "Sampson", in Greek, after the biblical hero [[Samson]] (Samsun Kale, "Samson's Castle" in Turkish). In 1204, [[Sabas Asidenos]], a local magnate, established himself as the city's ruler, but soon had to recognize the rule of the [[Empire of Nicaea]]. The area remained under [[Byzantine]] control until the late 13th century.

By 1923, whatever Greek population remained was expelled in the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] following World War I. Shortly after, the Turkish population moved to a more favourable location, which they called Güllü Bahçe ("rose garden"). The old Greek settlement, partly still in use, is today known as Gelebeç or Kelebeş. The tourist attraction of Priene is accessible from there.