Priene-01 Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

The origins of this beautiful city are old indeed. By the eleventh century B.C. it was one of the twelve colonies forming the Ionian Confederation and enjoyed considerable prestige and prosperity.

It was situated below the mass of Samsun Mountain (formerly Mikale) on the shore before river Maeander silted up the port.

Now the sea is fifteen km away and surrounding plain have become immense cotton plantations.

The city rebelled against Persian domination under King Cyrus and in revenge the Persians razed it to the ground. New Priene was reborn under Alexander the Great in 330 B.C. and after countless struggles and invasions became a Roman province in 129 A.D.

The city regained its prosperity under the Emperor Augustus in spite of having a population of only seven thousand. During the Byzantine reign it became a Bishopric.

Location : Soke/Davutlar/Aydin/Turkey

Played with light and contrast a little.

pamastro, pulezan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

djenno (0) 2004-09-02 13:31

You've selected good angle to take this shot. Well captured! Regards, Djenno

pamastro (7213) 2004-09-05 12:38

I like the horizontal and vertical in this photo. We get a nice L shape here. The once standing columns are now broken and horizontal but in the back and on the side there still remain columns that rise tall above the others. They in turn form a nice progression into the distance. The size of these "blocks" are really impressive and again makes one wonder how these things could be manipulated into such finely tuned structures. Quite amazing. Very nicely composed and good job.

Photo Information

Copyright: bulent pehlivan (bpelvan) (3786)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-08-07
Categories: Ruins
Camera: Nikon Coolpix 4300
Exposure: f/7.6, 30 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Ancient Cities of Turkey, Archaeological and Ancient Sites of Turkey [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2004-09-02 4:54