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CNIDOS |
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CNIDOS |
| Famous as a center of
art and culture in the fourth century B.C., Cnidos was
established at the same time that Halicarnassus
was, as one of the six Dorian colonies in Asia. It seems
to have kept a purer Greek character, no doubt because it
set its sights seaward and had little contact with the
interior. Around 360 BC, the city was rebuilt at the
windblown tip of the peninsula, banking on the fact that
a good harbor at the outer corner of Asia Minor would
become a popular calling-port for ships on the
Aegean-East Mediterranean transit routes. The rocky
island facing the shore at the new site was joined to the
mainland with a causeway, creating two deep harbors on
either side of the isthmus. One on the Aegean and the
other on the Mediterranean.
The island section held the residential quarters, a series of colonnaded walks rose in tiers on the land side. Two large theaters, an odeon and three temples completed what must have been a striking ensemble in the midst of a desolate crag. The remains of a circular temple dedicated to the goddess of love overlook remains of the two harbors: the arcaded way was built of white marble heart-shaped columns. The legendary Aphrodite of Praxiteles statue, reputedly one of the most beautiful sculptures of the antiquity, once graced this temple. The city was renowned as one of the most beautiful in ancient Greece.
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