MAGNESIA AD MEANDER
THE ANCIENT SITE IN AYDIN / ASIA MINOR
The first excavations at the archaeological site were performed during 1891 and 1893 by a German archaeological team conducted by Carl Humann, discoverer of the Pergamon Altar. These lasted 21 months and partially revealed the theatre, the Artemis temple, the agora, the Zeus temple and the prytaneion. Carl Human, as he did in Pergammon brought some important friezes of Artemis Temple to his country. today, many artifacts are in Pergammon museum in Berlin and Louvre museum in Paris.
Findings from the site are now displayed in Istanbul and Aydın, as well as in Berlin and Paris. Copies of the portico (pronaos) of the Zeus temple and of a bay of the Artemis temple can be visited in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin. Much of the architectural remains of Magnesia were destroyed long ago by local lime burners. The well preserved remains of the Zeus temple have been destroyed by local residents even after Humann's excavation campaign.
In July 2018, six Greek statues were discovered. Four female, one male and one with unknown gender were unearthed in the ruins of a temple of Artemis.
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The territory around Magnesia was extremely fertile, and produced excellent wine, figs, and cucumbers. It was built on the slope of Mount Thorax, on the banks of the small river Lethacus, a tributary of the Maeander river upstream from Ephesus. It was 15 miles from the city of Miletus. The ruins of the city are located west of the modern village Tekin in the Germencik district of Aydın Province, Turkey.
Magnesia lay within Ionia, but because it had been settled by Aeolians from Greece, was not accepted into the Ionian League. Magnesia may have been ruled for a time by the Lydians, and was for some time under the control of the Persians and subject to Cimmerian raids. In later years, Magnesia supported the Romans during the Second Mithridatic War.
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Magnesia ad Maeandrum, Stadium
Statue of Athena Parthenos from the Library of Pergamon with the temple of Zeus Sosipolis
Fragment of four relief figures from the Altar of Artemis at Magnesia on the Maeander,
Galleries of Ancient Greece and Italy, Louvre Museum, Paris, France. relief figures from the Altar of Artemis
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