2. Cilt - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

site at Çatallar tepe indeed perfectly fullfills all expectations: It is situated inthe very heart of Mt. Mycale. The temple has been erected within the ruinsof a davastated Carian settlement, thus continuing an older Carian cult. Itsunique plan, combining a temple with a lesche, meets the requirements of acultplace intended to bring together the ambassadors of the 12 Ionian citiesfor a strange sacrifice of non-greek type.The question, why the Panionion at Çatallar tepe was not rebuilt after itsdestruction can easily be answered by pointing to the destruction of archaicPriene and the enslavement of its population by the Persian commanderMazares. The meetings of the Ionian League during the 2nd half of the 6thcent. B.C. mentioned by Herodotus might well have taken place in muchhumbler surroundings in Priene itself.Other consequences from the findings at Çatallar tepe concern thedevelopment of early Ionic architecture. While the temple of Dionysos at Yriaon the island of Naxos, which had been dated to 580/70 B.C. by G. Gruben,already disposes of foundations larger than the walls, of column bases, and ofplastically worked Ionic capitals, the Panionion in comparison seems slightlyless developed. Did Ionic architecture not develop uniformly? Is it thinkablethat in a region of such enormous intellectual innovation as Ionia a templefounded by the Ionian League did not represent the latest developments inarchitecture? Or are we perhaps better advised to lower the date of the templeat Yria?195