The Temple of Apollo, Didim.

A great place to visit on your stay in Altinkum. Didim (Didyma) is the home of the god Apollo where only priests were allowed to enter  and consult the Oracle. The construction of the colossal Temple of Apollo commenced circa 300 B.C. and continued for 500 years. With its towering 120 columns it was the third largest temple in the ancient Greek world. Eventually the cost prohibited its completion. A statue of Poseidon and the massive head of Medusa are just a few things to see.

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This artists impression gives an idea of the sheer scale of the construction, notice the 2 men in the foreground for perspective.

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The Temple of Apollo was known as, in ancient times, the Didymaion. The Greek traveller and writer Pausanias, around 160A.D., recorded that the temple was constructed before Greek colonization took place and that was in the 10th century B.C. although the general belief is that the temple dates aback to the 2nd millennium B.C. However, with more recent excavations of the initial level of the temple, archaeologists feel that it dates back to the 8th century B.C. and the walkway was constructed around a century later.

The interior of the Temple was a sacred place. This place had a secret society and people from all over the known world came here and paid to receive the oracle. The oracles delivered were generally a few cryptic words that could be interpreted in many ways. The inner sanctuary, called the Naiskos, contained the cult statue and the sacred spring, used in many of the temple rituals.

The two giant columns, that can be seen from miles around, are the only remains of the 122 columns that stood in the Roman times. It has been recorded that, in the Christian era, St. Paul gave public sermons in the temple.

Another ancient relic in Didim is the road, known as, The Sacred Way. According to legend Apollo and Artemis were both born in Didim, the temple of Apollo was built in Didim whilst the temple of Artemis was built in nearby Miletus. The two places were connected by The Sacred Way, which was built by the Emperor Trajan in 101 A.D.

The Medusa Relief is a giant head sculpture that was a fresco on the crossbeams of the great columns. It is believed to be the work of the famous Aphrodisias from the 2nd century A.D.

The Didim temple of Apollo is only 10mins by taxi from the Altinkum apartment.