Ancient Knidos

The ancient harbour at Knidos was much busier than when we had visited in April but arriving at 2 pm we found a spot to anchor and instantly went for a swim. The water is so clear here that the well dug in anchor was clearly visible even at 12 metres depth.

Knowing that there is a lot to see at Knidos Alex and Lucy went ashore to explore the site in the relatively cool late afternoon. The site shuts at 7 pm and so we decided that, if necessary, they could finish off their visit in the morning. We had already seen most of Knidos so planned to just go in the morning.

Hot and footsore from their trekking about the ruins Alex and Lucy called us from the restaurant ashore and we joined them for an excellent ice cool beer in frozen glasses. We compared notes and decided that the round temple high up on the hillside plateau was our favourite vantage point. Back on board Alex cooked us a curry for dinner which was excellent and not just because we didn’t have to do any of the cooking.

With so little cultural lighting the ancient harbour was perfect for Lucy to indulge her interest in astronomy allowing her to see more stars with the naked eye than she had seen before.

In the morning we all went ashore and walked up the eastern side of the site looking for the large theatre and the odeon. Littered on the floor were old pieces of pottery. Alex found the handle from an amphora. They were stamped to show that the contents, usually wine or olive oil, had originated in Knidos. A sign of quality in Knidos’ most prosperous period of 300-31BC. We left the handle where we’d found it so that some other visitor could also enjoy playing ‘amateur archaeology’.

What remains of the large theatre    

The signposts to the odeon petered out but we were able to see the site of the large theatre much higher up the hillside. Sadly there isn't much there other than a large retaining wall and the natural curve of the hillside.

The commercial harbour to the east and the smaller military harbour to the west    

High up on the hillside we got great views of the harbour. Perhaps there's more of the large theatre to excavate but a little disappointed we returned to the lower levels and stumbled upon the odeon.

The odeon    

This was just above sea level and had an excellent view of the old commercial harbour. Content that we had 'done' Knidos we returned to BV to cool down with a swim.

Ancient Knidos, Turkey