Priene, Turkey, Asia
 
 
Year-350latitude: 37° 39'
longitude: 27° 18'
Period
Initiator(s)Aipytos
Planning organization
Nationality initiator(s)Ionian Greeks
Designer(s) / Architect(s) Hippodamus
Design organization
Inhabitants
Target population
Town website
Town related links
Literature

type of New Town: > scale of autonomy
New-Town-in-Town
Satellite
New Town
Company Town
> client
Private Corporation
Public Corporation
> policy
Capital
Decentralization
Industrialization
Resettlement
Economic
 

Priene plan
source: http://www.skyscrapercity .com/showthread.php?t=177 106 .Accessed : 5/05/2011



source:


Despite the fact that the ancient city of Priene existed since almost the 11th century BCE, the remains that are still visible date from the 4th century BCE. Priene was originally founded by Greeks from the city of Thebes, and main importance was given to the port. The original location, as well as, the type of soil in the area and few earthquakes, seemed to have been responsible for moving the city every few hundreds of years, in order not to lose the function of the port. The most important change, however, took place in the 4th century, when Priene had been liberated from the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great and the Greek troops. Although, according to inscriptions it is evident that Alexander gave political constitution to Priene, his involvement in the planning of the new city cannot be proved. However, based on some sources, he, along with the satrap Mausolus, decided, after the liberation, to plan a new deep-water port city, based on the widespread model of the Greek island towns. This plan was facilitated by the geography of the region and the city was decided to be located on the seaside escarpment.

For once more, Priene changed location, but also planning system. One century ago, in the vicinal city of Miletus, an eccentric person called Hippodamos, introduced a rational gridiron system. The hippodamian system, explained also in the database entries of Alexandria of Egypt, Olynthos and Halieis, was gaining more and more importance in ancient Greece and had been employed for almost all the new cities planned during the Hellenistic period. There has been so much debate on the gridiron planning system, trying to date the period of emergence and the civilization that should be credited for it. It seems, however, that for many eastern civilizations it had been an important planning tool since few thousands years ago. However, the main difference in the Greek region, introduced by Hippodamos during the 5th century BCE, was its association with a rational social and administrative order.

Priene, following the hippodamian layout, was divided in four districts : the religious, the political, the cultural and the commercial. Although there were four temples and one sanctuary to Egyptian gods dispersed throughout the city, the main religious area was in the center and was occupied by the temple of Athena Polias. Athena's temple was built, as a gift, by Alexander the Great in 334 BCE, who resided for long time in Priene while fighting for Miletus. Athena Polias was the goddess of the city and the one that protected it, explaining the importance of that temple. Its architect was Pythis (also known as Pytheos), one of the two Greek architects that had designed the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, which is listed among the seven wonders of the world.

The cultural zone, was, as one would expect, associated with the function of the theater. Priene's theater, with a capacity of 5.000 people, was built between the 4th and 3rd century BCE and is one of the best and most well preserved Hellenistic theaters. As was the case with almost all the ancient Greek theaters, it was sculpted in the hill, in order to provide with good acoustics.

The Athenian political model introduced during the Golden Years of Pericles, was expanding all over Greece, and it was spatially confirmed through the administrative buildings which were usually located close to the Agora. The new, liberated city of Priene, then, could not lack the Bouleyterion and the Prytaneion. The Bouleyterion served as the space where the town counselors could meet, whereas, the Prytaneion, located next to it, was the seat of the elected city administration.

The functional zones are essential for the analysis, in order to understand the city's culture, as well as, to get a grasp of the important activities of its residents. However, a very important element of the city's plan, was the street layout itself. The first step was
to lay out the streets and then fill in with the buildings. As we can see from the illustration, despite the fact that the city extended up to the hill with its acropolis, the street plan was laid out only on the southern part of Priene. The cliff dividing the city in two, resulted in an acropolis which could hardly be accessed and therefore used as the one found in many other ancient Greek cities, so emphasis was given to the main city area.

By observing the contour lines of the area, one can see that even the southern part was all but flat. The north-south streets of the grid plan, were short and due to the inclination, they were arranged with stairs. The main streets were the ones oriented from west to east, connecting the gates of the city. The grid seems denser on the east side of the city, and wider on the west. In the center, where also the site becomes flatter, two blocks had been removed and space was provided for the agora. The streets around the agora were pedestrianized and a big flat terrace was created to connect them. Meanwhile, close to the agora, there was a big opening for the oldest building in the city, the temple of Athena, which was described previously. The east – west streets, and especially the main one crossing the open space of agora, were all paved and could be traversed by wheeled carriages.

Because of the geomorphology of the site, Priene seems to had been accessed mainly by the west, through the vicinal harbour town of Naulochus. Nowadays, the tourists can approach it by the east road, and they can still admire the remains of a city built of marble. One can still see the paved streets, the stairways, some door frames, the well preserved monuments, etc. Another important surviving element, are the water distribution channels and sewage system. Due to its location, next to the sea and the Maeander Delta, along with the advantage of the site's inclination, water was abundant and was easily channeled in the city, following the grid layout.

The houses in Priene followed the “prothyron” [pro (προ) + thyra (θύρα) = (before the door)] style. This meant that the entrance was slightly recessed in order to form the sheltered “prothyron”. After crossing the main door, one would enter a rectangular courtyard with its “prostada” (προστάδα) which was the anteroom connected to one room. In most of the houses, there was a colonnade on one, two or even three sides of the courtyard. It wouldn't be a surprise if we would mention that all the houses had a southern orientation in order to provide with better light, as well as good climate inside the house during the whole year (this has also been explained in all the cities of the Greek civilization).

On the ground floor, one would find the main functions of the home with the rooms, the storerooms and, possibly, the spaces for the slaves. This part of the house expanded, usually, in two levels. At the northern part of the house was the “andronas” (ανδρώνας). This space was the room with the couches (κλίνες) where the function of “symposion” (συμπόσιον) was taking place. Symposion was the gathering of men for eating and drinking, some times as part of political debate inside the house, or simply for entertainment reasons for which they were, usually, accompanied by hetaeras. This room addressed exclusively to men and one could enter it through the courtyard.

The rooms on the second floor of the house had openings towards the courtyard in order to provide with better light and ventilation retaining their southern orientation. The windows were usually located high on the wall and had no windowpanes, while the height of the rooms was about 5,5 – 6m. A very important observation was that, while in most of the Greek cities toilets were located outside the house, in Priene, one third of the houses had indoor toilets, proving, along with the wide use of marble, that it was quite a wealthy city.

The port city of the 6000 inhabitants didn't last long. According to Pausanias (2nd century CE), the Maeander “had silted over the inlet in which Myus stood”1, resulting in its residents moving to Miletus. However, it is now claimed to be “the most spectacular surviving example of an entire ancient Greek city intact except for the ravages of time”2.

Footnotes : 1. Wikipedia. Vocabulary entry : Priene
2. ibid

source: 1. Wikipedia. Vocabulary entry : Priene
2. "Priene - A Lost City". [online] Available from : http://heckeranddecker.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/priene-a-lost-city/ .Accessed : 05/05/2011
3. "Priene in Turkey - Athens once was the model : Hard to believe that it was an active port in ancient times". [online] Available from : http://www.bodrumpages.com/English/priene.html .Accessed : 05/05/2011
4. "Priene". [online] Available from : http://www.turizm.net/cities/priene/ .Accessed : 05/05/2011
5. "Sacred Destinations : Priene". [online] Available from : http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/priene.htm .Accessed : 05/05/2011
6. "Skyscraper City : Priene". [online] Available from : http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=177106 .Accessed : 05/05/2011
7. Richard A. Tomlinson (1992), "From Mycenae to Constantinople : The Evolution of the Ancient City", Routledge, London UK.
8. "Priene, City of Athena". [online] Available from : http://www.artemisguesthouse.com/Priene.aspx .Accessed : 05/05/2011
9. "Πριήνη". [online] Available from : http://www.tmth.edu.gr/aet/thematic_areas/p87.html .Accessed : 05/05/2011

2008 - 2024 disclaimer