The story of Miletus

Stand among the ruins of Miletus and the sea is nowhere in sight, yet this was once a harbour city with four ports. The Büyük Menderes, the ancient Meander, slowly filled its harbour with silt, and today the site lies about 10 km inland, near the village of Balat, 5 km north of Akköy in the Didim district. The Hittites knew it as Millawanda.

Around 1900 BC bronze objects made by Minoan Crete were already arriving here through trade, a sign that Miletus grew by looking to the Aegean. Later, Ionians led by a son of the Athenian king Kodros refounded the city. It became one of the most important ports among the 12 cities of Ionia and shone brightest in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, growing rich after 650 BC through its colonies on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

The Persians took it in 546 BC. A legend recorded by Strabo says the first settlers came from Crete.