Miletus pics - What can You See in Miletus

What can you see in Miletus? Take a glance of Miletus pics below. But before jumping on the Miletus pics, let me share a brief about Miletus history and today.

Ancient city is called as “Miletus” in Classic Greek, as “Miletos” in Latin and as “Milet” in Turkish. Whatever we call the city, it was the most important art, science, and philosophy center of Anatolia. Miletus was first founded in 1400 B.C. Hellenistic ancient theater has a seat capacity for 15.000 audience. This number gives us an idea about the city’s population at that time.

I can list down Thales (Philosopher), Anaximander (philosopher and geographer), Anaximenes (philosopher), Cadmus (writer), Hecataeus (historian), Hippodamus (urban planner, architect), Isidore (architect) as popular people from Miletus. Isidore of Miletus is one of the architects of Hagia Sophia. Another architect of Hagia Sophia was Anthemius of Tralles.

Miletus was one of St. Paul’s visits on his third missionary journey, mentioned in the Bible. Thus, Miletus was also a sacred destination for Christians. During the Ottoman era, the city was utilized as a harbor. Later, silts filled up the bay. Today Miletus ruins are about 9km away from the Aegean Sea. Ilyas Bey mosque and a caravansary from 14 century is located around the same area where Miletus located.

First excavations were carried out by French archeologists in 1873. Today, ruins of Miletus are in west Anatolia, Turkey. It is 30km south of Soke, Aydin. It is not far to visit Kusadasi, Ephesus, Selcuk, Didyma from Miletus. Although the closest city is Aydin, I suggest international travelers to fly to Izmir for convenience and start to ancient history steps from Izmir, Turkey. Enjoy Miletus pics from my collection, which are shot in 2012.