Sailing To Cnidus, The Star Of Dorian Hexapolis

If you are looking for a unique yachting holiday orsome other statues including the lions, which are
vacation, you should try a sailing voyage toall now at the Museum except for one of the lions
ancient city of Cnidus in Turkey.that got broken in transit.
Cnidus is an ancient site in Turkey that is beingCan Yucel, a well-known master of Turkish
closely studied by archaeologists and historians.poetry has described Cnidus in two sentences:
Ramazan Ozgan, the archaeology professor of"Staring at it, looks greener than the algea,
Konya Selcuk University in Turkey, who has beenYet more blue, swimming a stroke."
presiding over the excavation studies in Cnidus forAphrodite bathed in this water, according to the
16 years, is working with a group of 22 students;Greek mythology. Although Cnidus is one of the
in addition, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ehrhart frombest preserved areas, ignorance has taken its toll
Freiburg University also is working to uncover theon this precious cultural site. Some valuable pieces
rich heritage of Cnidus.have been dragged out of the country due to
Centuries ago Cnidus, originally a Phoeniciangreed and vanity. But what remains still provide a
settlement, was a major Dorian city, celebratedlight on the richness of the ancient past. Prof. Dr.
for its temples, theatres, statue of Aphrodite, theEhrhart is working on the city plan of the ancient
world's first observatory, and medi¬calsite, which, not surprisingly, has never been
school. Around 1000 BC the Dorians invaded thesearched thoroughly before.
southern part of Caria and established the DorianCnidus was known worldwide in ancient times
Hexapolis with the cities Cnidus (Datça),"I don't know whether 16 years of study was
Halicarnassos (Bodrum), Cos, Kamiros, Lindos andsuffering or pleasure" says Mr. Ozgan while adding
Lalissos. The last three of the cities were inthat he's fond of the excavations he discovered
Rhodes. Cnidus was established at the same timewith his students. "The Dorians founded these
as Halicarnassus (now Bodrum) around 800 BC.cities around 1200 BC. As the seaborne trade
Later on, according to Herodotus, a famousdeveloped, they stored their products in Northern
Greek historian, who lived around 447 BC,Africa, in a city called Naucratis to sell olive and
Halicarnas¬sus was excluded from the unionolive oil to the whole world. And that's how Cnidus
of Greek city-states. The Union was then calledbecame among the most wealthy cities of the
the Dorian Pentapolis. Cnidus was the centre ofworld and became the richest in Anatolia."
this City Union. It had an effective political andLand of the taxfree
economic structure considering the period andFriends of Julius Ceasar lived in Cnidus, and being
was an important city with, colonies in Northernfriends with him wasn't only critical in a political
Sicily, from the island of Lipari, to as far assense but was also very important as an
Naukrati in Egypt.economic advantage. This state of affairs gave
Apollon and Aphrodite were the symbols of theCnidus a privilege; Ceasar anounced that this city
city. The engravings on the Cnidian coins used towould be free of tax and this led to great
bear these symbols. But the most striking symbolprosperity and the citizens built fountains, schools
of the city were the lions which stood on bothand temples which can be partly seen today. At
sides of the harbour entrance. A colossal figure ofleast they were helping each other! What have
a lion carved out of one block of mar¬ble,our rich people done to help their cities? How and
ten feet in length and six in height, which iswhere do they spend their fortune? Cnidus was
believed to commemo¬rate the great navalalso a leading clinical center of the world but again,
victory, the Battle of Cnidus, which ended thethis fact doesn't come into prominence.
Spartan hegemony in 394 BC!Pieces are scattered all over the world
Philosophers, architects and the astronomers ofThe most glorious pieces of the British Museum
the ancient world were attracted to thishave been taken from here and damage was
inspirational meeting point. The statue ofdone to the ancient sites. The artifacts are easy
Aphrodite testifies to the cul¬turalto carry away via the sea and rumors of
refinement of the city. One of the greatestsmuggling have continued right up to recent years.
mathematicians of antiquity, Eudoxus was born inHave you dreamed of an enjoyable holiday amidst
Cnidus. He discovered the formula to find thethe quiet of ancient ruins? Wouldn't this be a
volumes of the solids and other mathematicalperfect vacation? Imagine a land where the
demonstrations. He also devised a geometricalfertility of the soil is boundless and from this rich
expla¬nation of the motions of the sun,soil comes earthenware pottery from Paleothic
moon and planets along the zodiac.Ages, Assyrian metal coins, and statues that
There's also Praxiteles who carved the statue ofdecorated the Hittite cities and ancient Greek
Aphrodite for the people of Cnidus. The statuelibraries.
was so highly valued by them that they refusedThe ideal way to live in the historical sites, is to
to sell it to King Nicomedes, who was willing injoin a "Blue Voyage" with the comfortable
return to discharge the whole debt of the city.atmosphere afforded by a "Deluxe Gulet" or
And there's Sostratus, architect of the Lighthouse"Marmaris Yachts". You can also have an
of Alexandria. This great lighthouse was one ofexperienced guide in the gulet (traditional Turkish
"the Seven Wonders of the ancient world" .sail boat), whose knowledge of the area is rich
At one time in Cnidus, there was a statue of aand whose personality is warm and humorous.
lion set on each breakwater, commemorating theThe "Blue Cruise" in the crystal clear waters or
great naval victory won in 394 BC, but in 1857,"Turquoise Coast" could easily be the highlight of
an Englishman by the name of C.Newton visitedyour trip to Turkey.
the city and carried off a statue of Demeter and