38:13.220N 26:25.299E
19/08/23 - 25/08/23 We left the little bay of Port St Nickolao for a a 30nm sail to Cam Limani. After motoring a short distance we were able to put the sails up and from then on had a cracking sail tacking up the Samos Channel and then a fast tight reach to Cam Limani. Unfortunately again the wind was not doing what it was forecast to do, so another anchorage with a rolly swell making life on board rather difficult. A swell while sailing you can cope with, a swell at anchor takes on a whole new perspective. Cam Limani is a busy place with with hotels and beach activities in full swing for the summer. So we left Cam Limani for a 20nm sail to Kocacukuk Koyu. Again we were able to sail all the way in perfect winds this time to a quiet anchorage with not much of a swell and turquoise water so we could see the anchor at the bottom. We had some lunch and then decided to have a swim. That was when we saw the hull. I will not go into detail now, more when we haul out at Kilada at the end of the season, but to say we were disappointed is an understatement. Many emails and photos back and forth to the boatyard in Didim, we finally managed to convinced them that there was a problem with the Coppercoat where the cradle pads had been and that it was their application process that had been at fault. During our stay in Kocacukuk Koyu, despite the intense heat we visited the ancient site of Diyonsus. THE SANCTUARY OF DIONYSUS
Located inside the Hellenistic walls and just to the east of the western city walls, the Temple of Dionysus has been the most highly regarded structure of Teos. Vitruvius, in his book entitled "Ten Books on Architecture" (De Architectura) tells us that the architect of the temple was Hermogenes. It was planned in accordance with his principle of eustylos (meaning the "beautiful style"), connoting that the spaces between the columns were equal to the 2 ¼ times of their lower diameters. The work of R. Chandler and N. Revett in 1764-1765 can be considered as the first study of the temple. The first archaeological excavations were undertaken by R P. Pullan in 1862 who published its first plan. After a long break, the French resumed the survey of the temple in 1924 and provided new information related also to the temenos. Between 1962 and 1967, Y. Boysal and B. Ogün conducted excavations in the temple and the temenos, and undertook the first restorations. D. M. Uz studied the temple from 1980 until his death in 1991; his doctoral thesis entitled "Dionysus Temple in Teos" (1987) is the most detailed study of the building. The Temple of Dionysus is of the lonic order and has a regular, tri-partite plan with a trapezoidal temenos. The latter was surrounded by four stoas: two Doric (north and south) and two lonic (east and west). The plan is eustylos peripteral with six columns on the shorter sides and eleven on the longer. With its deep two-columned pronaos and a narrow two-columned opisthodomos, the building strongly resembles Pytheos' Temple of Athena at Priene. The plan also resembles Hermogenes' famous Temple of Artemis in Magnesia in the sense that the columns of the pronaos and opisthodomos conform to the axis and alignment of those on theperistasis. According to E. Akurgal, the temple must have been built in the second quarter of the 2nd century. However, based on a study of the works of the famous architect and an inscription related to Antiochus I|I (223-187 BC) which was uncovered by Y. Boysal and B. Ögün and published by P. Herrmann, Hermogenes must have lived in the last quarter of the 3rd century. Architectural blocks and figurative friezes that were found in the temple can be generally dated to the Hellenistic period. Uz, in his comprehensive study of the building, argued that the Hellenistic temple was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt during the reigns of Augustus (27 BC-AD 14) and Hadrians (AD 117-138). To the east of the temple there is a gate, i.e. propylon leading to the sacred area. Based on the dating of the inscriptions and the temenos stoa to the Augustan period, the propylon, too, must have been built in the same period. After a couple of days in Kocacukuk Limani, we felt ready to move on to Zeytineli Koyu, another quiet anchorage and then to the large bay of Mersin for one night. Our aim is to eventually get to Dikili to visit the ancient site of Pergamum and to spend some time around the islands in the Gulfs on the way. The council chamber at the Sanctuary of Dionysus (the umbrella is a modern feature for the archaeologists!) Sanctuary of Dionysus What Dionysus looked like in Hellenistic times. Sent from my iPad |
