| Büyük Menderes River Maeander, Meander, Μαίανδρος | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Native name | Büyük Menderes Irmağı (Turkish) |
| Location | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Cities | Nazilli,Aydın,Söke |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Dinar,Afyonkarahisar Province |
| • coordinates | 38°04′15″N30°10′37″E / 38.07083°N 30.17694°E /38.07083; 30.17694 |
| • elevation | 880 m (2,890 ft) |
| Mouth | Aegean Sea |
• location | Aydin Province |
• coordinates | 37°32′24″N27°10′08″E / 37.54000°N 27.16889°E /37.54000; 27.16889 |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 548 km (341 mi) |
| Basin size | 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Çürüksu River, Akçay River, Çine River |
TheBüyük Menderes River ("Great Meander", historically theMaeander orMeander, fromAncient Greek: Μαίανδρος,Maíandros;Turkish:Büyük Menderes Irmağı), is a river in southwesternTurkey. It rises in west central Turkey nearDinar before flowing west through the Büyük Menderesgraben until reaching theAegean Sea in the proximity of the ancientIonian cityMiletus. The river was well known for its sinuous, curving pattern, and gives its name to the common term, (meander), used to describethese characteristic bends in rivers.
The river rises in aspring nearDinar and flows toLake Işıklı. After passing theAdıgüzel Dam and theCindere Dam, the river flows pastNazilli,Aydın andSöke before it drains into theAegean Sea.
The Maeander was a celebrated river ofCaria inAsia Minor. It appears earliest in theCatalog of Trojans ofHomer'sIliad along withMiletus andMycale.
The river has its sources not far fromCelaenae inPhrygia (now Dinar),[1] where it gushed forth in a park ofCyrus.[2] According to some[3] its sources were the same as those of the riverMarsyas; but this is irreconcilable withXenophon, according to whom the sources of the two rivers were only near each other, the Marsyas rising in a royal palace.[4] Others[5] state that the Maeander flowed out of a lake onMount Aulocrene.William Martin Leake[6] reconciles all these apparently different statements by the remark that both the Maeander and the Marsyas have their origin in the lake on Mount Aulocrene, above Celaenae, but that the issue at different parts of the mountain below the lake.
The Maeander was so celebrated in antiquity for its numerous windings, that its classical name "Maeander" became, and still is, proverbial.[7] Its whole course has a southwesterly direction on the south of the range ofMount Messogis. South ofTripolis it receives the waters of theLycus, whereby it becomes a river of some importance. NearCarura it passes from Phrygia into Caria, where it flows in its tortuous course through the Maeandrian plain,[8] and finally discharges itself in theGulf of Icaros (an arm of the Aegean Sea), between the ancient Greek citiesPriene andMyus, opposite to theIonian city of Miletus, from which its mouth is only 10 stadia distant.[9]
The tributaries of the Maeander include theOrgyas, Marsyas,Cludrus,Lethaeus, andGaeson, in the north; and theObrimas, Lycus,Harpasus, and a secondMarsyas in the south.
The Maeander is a deep river,[10] but not very broad. In many parts its depth equals its breadth and, so, it is navigable only by small craft.[11] It frequently overflows its banks and, as a result of the quantity of mud it deposits at its mouth, the coast has been pushed about 20 or 30stadia (about 4 to 6 kilometers in modern units) further into the sea and several small islands off the coast have become united with the mainland.[12]
The associated river god was also calledMeander, one of the sons ofOceanus andTethys.[13]
There was a legend about a subterranean connection between the Maeander and theAlpheus River inElis.[14]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "MAEANDER".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Media related toBüyük Menderes River at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
