Pitane

Pitane

Pitane, of the remains of the Aeolian Greeks in Pitane, little is to be found by the visitor, What did exist in former years has been devastated and plundered for the construction of later buildings. The castle and other structures at Candarli are examples of this. Scant traces of the thick security wall which once enclosed Pitane may be seen as well as the sites of a small theater and a stadium along the eastern shore of the peninsula. Strabo wrote of Pitane’s two harbors, one on either side of an earth mote. This would lead us to assume that the city was once an island habitation which has since become a permanent part of the mainland. No harbor cortstru-tions can be seen, however, owing to the heavy silting, A necropolis which dates to the sixth century B.C. was discovered In 1959 by Turkish archaeologists just north of Candarli Village. The bodies of the Aeolian Greeks were cremated before interment, then the ashes were buried in funerary urns. Examples of these clay urns may be seen in the museum at Pergamon . A Greek statue was also discovered at Pitane, one of the few extant works of art found at the city, it is an Archaic work af the same period as the necropolis, a full-sized statue of a naked man. This, too, may be seen at the Bergama Archelogical museum as well as other artifacts from Pitane.

Die castle was constructed during the great period of fortress building in the Aegean and Mediterranean coastal areas of Asia Minor during the Middle Ages. Like other of the Crusader castles erected by knights of various orders in Anatolia, this has withstood the passing of time graciously. The squared fortress comprises four high and two lower towers connected by sturdy walls on its perch above Candarlı. Houses have since been built Into the castles ramparts, and one of the walls was reconstructed and styled for more modern warfare by the Ottoman Turks. English coats of arms facing the castle’s walls give testimony to its former in habitants.