|
Walls
Miletus was first walled during the Late Helladic IIIB-IIIC period (1350-1050 BC). A 75 metre-section of the wall south of the temple of Athena, and four bastions have been studied. The wall was 4 metres thick, made of brick with a stone foundation.
Reinforced by towers, the wall of the Archaic period(7th-6th century es BC) surrounded the whole peninsula of Miletus and the hill of Kalabaktepe.  Traces of the Archaic wall have been preserved in the area of the Theatre Harbour and the southern end of the Theatre hill. Two phases can be discerned according to the masonry employed: an older one, in which the polygonal system of building was used, and a more recent one (late Archaic) in which rectangular stones were used.
The wall was rebuilt twice during the Classical era: once in 479 BC during the reconstruction of the city after the Persian wars, and once again after the conquest of Miletus by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Only the Sacred Gate survives from the first phase.
A part of the Hellenistic wall, made of marble and limestone slabs, is preserved in the Theatre Harbour, and another part underneath the Roman stage Theatre. Located at the south-east end of the wall, the so-called Lion Gate, the second monumental structure after the Sacred Gate, belongs to this phase of the wall.
The south cross wall was built in the 1st century BC to protect the city from Mithridates's raids. It was found along the Sacred Gate of the Classical wall, exactly where the Miletian peninsula began. It was 500 metres long, with sloping faces, and was reinforced by towers built every 60 metres. The last modifications of the wall were executed in the 3rd century AD (Gothic wall), and the 6th century AD, during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD).
|
