MILET ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Most travellers limit their visit to the theater, the site's major attraction. The Roman construction visible today, built on the site of a ^4th-century Greek theater, could hold 20,000 spectators. The magnificent, well-preserved circulation galleries gave access to the stands. From the top of the theater hill, you can appreciate the geographical location of the ancient city whose remains you can still make out. Miletus extended over a peninsula that formed two harbours: that of the Theatre and that of the Lions. The Byzantine castle whose ruins you can see is built with stones from the theater. Take the path to the right of the theater and you'll come to the thermal baths of Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius (150 AD). Next to a cold-water pool stands a decapitated statue of the River Meander. A few metres further on, you can see the Ilyas Bey mosque, dating from the early ^15th century. The 1958 earthquake deprived it of its minaret, but its mihrâb is magnificently sculpted and the interior squatted by storks. Passing the southern agora, you come to the bouleutêrion, the Senate which, as an inscription proves, was built in the ^2nd century BC by Tinarchos and Heracleidos in honour of the Syrian king Antiochos IV. Opposite was the nymphaeum, a sanctuary dedicated to the nymphs, dating from the ^1st century AD. To the right was the temple of Aesculapius, on which a Byzantine church, now in ruins, was built in the^5th century. A little further on stood the city's most important monument, the delphinion, sanctuary of Apollo, protector of harbours and ships, after the northern agora, above the port of the Lions (so named because of the two marble fawns guarding its entrance).

Outside the summer months, the site beyond the theater is often difficult to explore, as rain turns the land into swamp. But when the waters recede, the spectacle is surreal. Not to be missed.

The museum is located1 km from the site's main entrance.

Idea for a lunch break in Karin: an excellent fish lunch in a soothing setting, much more pleasant than on the side of the road, or at the foot of a crowded site. Between Milet and Priene, follow the signs for Priene, then turn left towards Doğanbey and go to the very end of the road.