Erythrai Antik Kenti

Erythrai, in Çeşme's Ildırı neighbourhood, is one of the twelve cities that formed the Ionian League and one of the least known ancient cities of İzmir. The city lies about 20 kilometres north-east of the centre of Çeşme and 60 kilometres from İzmir, on a small peninsula directly opposite the island of Chios. Its name comes from the Greek word erythros, meaning red, and refers to the reddish soil of the area. According to Pausanias the founder was Erythros, son of Rhadamanthys of Crete; later Knopos, of the Athenian royal line, brought Ionian settlers here. Settlement goes back to the Early Bronze Age, but the city gained its real importance with the Ionian migrations and the league. After the middle of the sixth century BC it came under Persian rule; it could send only eight ships to the naval battle of Lade. In the Delian League it was the city that paid the highest tribute among the Ionian cities; in 453 and 412 BC it rose against the league. Under the tyrant Pythagoras it grew rich on the production and export of millstones. Alexander the Great granted the city its freedom in 334 BC; according to inscriptions the theatre and the walls of more than four kilometres were built in his time and with his financial support. It is also recorded that Alexander planned a canal cutting through the Erythrai peninsula to link the bay of Teos with the gulf of İzmir. After the Kingdom of Pergamon it became, in 133 BC, a free city attached to the Roman province of Asia; it was famous for its goats, its timber and its millstones. In the Roman age the city was honoured as the birthplace of Sibylla Herophile, the famous prophetess of Western mythology. Earthquakes, wars and plundering in the first century AD wore the city down; the settlement, which shrank in the Byzantine period, came under Turkish rule in 1366. On the acropolis stands the temple of Athena Polias, the city's chief goddess. According to Ankara University's excavation page, the temple with its polygonal masonry was built in the second half of the eighth century BC and was enlarged with additions in the seventh and sixth centuries. The terracotta goddess figurines found in the temple and a kore statue of the sixth century BC are in the İzmir Fair Archaeological Museum. The theatre on the northern slope of the acropolis is dated to the first half of the third century BC; it has two diazomata and was repaired in the reign of Hadrian. Only the foundations of the stage building survive; part of the seating of the cavea has been exposed by excavation. At the start of the road leading to the theatre stands the Heroon, a monumental tomb built for an important figure of the city; it too was repaired under Hadrian. The walls surrounding the city are four to five kilometres long; built of andesite and limestone, they are supported by square-plan towers and their main sections belong to the third and second centuries BC. In the excavations of 2009 a new area named the Herakleion was found; relief-decorated terracotta sima fragments of the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic periods came from here. At Cennettepe, by the sea at the entrance to the village, villas and mosaics were uncovered where the administrators and elite of the Roman period lived. East of the acropolis many remains of Byzantine buildings can be seen. The first excavations began in 1963-1964 with Hakkı Gültekin; between 1964 and 1982 Ekrem Akurgal and Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu worked on behalf of Ankara University. The second generation of excavations has continued since 2007 under Ayşe Gül Akalın Orbay; the team works from the ANKÜSAM centre in Urla. Some of the finds are displayed in the Çeşme Museum; besides Erythrai, the museum holds objects from the Bronze Age settlement of Bağlararası and amphorae recovered from the sea. The remains are spread through the present-day village of Ildırı; according to Wikipedia the village had 758 inhabitants in 2022 and is a quiet place far from the tourist bustle of Çeşme. The visit begins on the acropolis; the path up the hill reaches the remains of the Temple of Athena, which is the best spot for a view of the bay and the island of Chios. Looking down from above on the bay full of islets, you understand why the city was founded here; the sheltered harbour and the shortest crossing to Chios are right below. From there go down to the theatre on the northern slope, then follow the Heroon and the wall remains to the Roman villas on the village shore. The site is an archaeological site under the Çeşme Museum Directorate; check the current entrance arrangements and hours on muze.gov.tr. Some of the paths are earth and thorny scrub; closed shoes, a hat and water are essential. Come early in the morning or towards sunset; at midday the hill has no shade. Ildırı is reached from Çeşme by road; ask Çeşme Municipality about public transport services. A one-day tour of the Ionian cities combining Erythrai with Klazomenai and Teos completes the ancient map of the peninsula.