The excavations in Milet
The remains of the important ancient city of Milet lie roughly 80 km south of the present day city of Izmir in western Turkey. The first archaeological investigations were carried out by the French archaeologist Olivier Rayet in 1873.
Large-scale, systematic excavations of the area of ancient Milet started in 1899 under the direction of Theodor Wiegand. Along with the excavations in Pergamon, the investigations in Milet were the most important contribution of the museums of Berlin to the exploration of ancient city areas. Up until 1913 the excavations concentrated on the urban centre of this Hellenistic, Roman city, including the markets, public buildings, temples, thermal baths and sports arenas. In the area of the Temple of Athena traces were found of the most ancient, Minoan-Mycenaean city of Milet.
The excavations by the Royal Museum were briefly started again in 1938. After 1955 the German Archaeological Institute continued the investigations, and since 1989 the excavations have been led by the 
Chair of Archaeology at the Ruhr University in Bochum.
Original documents from the pre-1909 excavations can be found in the Pergamon Museum and the German Archaeological Institute, both in Berlin. Documents from the most recent excavations are kept in the
Milet-Archive of the Ruhr University in Bochum.
List of links to the digitized issues (German Page).
