|
Rectangular building, located on the north-east of the Agora, along with
the adjacent Prytaneion. It is presumed to have been the seat of the Boule,
or the Ekklesiasterion (the assembly of the citizens), since the city
was a small one and, consequently, the Ekklesia of Demos would not have many
members. The two edifices belong to the period between late 4th to late The Prytaneion was the headquarters of the Prytaneis (kind of senators) who possesed the highest executive authority. It bears traces of two construction phases, its initial rectangular plan of the Hellenistic period having udergone some major changes in Roman times. The building acquired an interior square courtyard with a colonnade, surrounded by rooms on three sides. The Bouleuterion at Priene makes use of the the steep slope it is built on, and is generally following the plan of the Bouleuterion at Miletus. The center of the auditorium is occupied by an altar, around which rises a stone amphitheatre in the shape of the Greek letter "Ð" with a capacity of 700. The edifice possesed a gabled roof supported by two parallel rows of pillars on the sides of the auditorium. Today most of the amphitheatre is still intact, making the Bouleuterion at Priene one of the best preserved from antiquity. |
|
