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Didyma is an
ancient Ionian temple and oracle of the cult of Apollo located near
the modern tourist resort of Altınkum,TURKEY.
Didyma means ‘twin’ and this refers to Apollo and Artemis who were
the children of Zeus and Leto. An oracle was a sacred site where a
deity gave answers or predictions through the mouth of a priest or
priestess.
It was, after Delphi, the most famous temple in the ancient Greek
world and the largest and most important religious structure under
the rule of the city of Miletus. Homer wrote about Didyma in his
Hymn to Apollo.
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The construction of the first shrine at Didyma Turkey
began in the eighth century BC and was completed nearly two hundred
years later. In
494 BC the Persians destroyed the temple and stole it’s treasures
including the statue of Apollo. After the attack the oracle
continued but on a less extravagant scale until 334 BC when
Alexander the Great arrived, revived the temple and rescued the
statue of Apollo from Persia.
The remains that can be seen today are
the remains of the temple that Alexander commissioned. Although Rome
continued to pay subsidies to Didyma, building progress was very
slow and eventually never finished as Christianity spread throughout
the land. The oracle received another blow when in 350 AD Thedosius
banned all pagan practices but the sites fate was finally sealed
when in 303 AD when Constantine the Great closed the temple and
executed the priests.
After an earthquake in the middle ages, most
of the columns at the temple collapsed and much of the masonry was
stolen by local villagers who needed to rebuild their homes. In 1858
the pavement and statues that once lined the sacred way from
Panormos 6km away, were stolen and rehoused in the British Museum in
London. Between 1905 and 1930 excavations uncovered all of the
Hellenistic temple and also some carvings from the earlier temple
and some statues.
The design of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma is similar to that of
the Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus. Originally it had 122 Ionic columns
standing tall at an impressive 60 feet high. The bases of the
columns were decorated with beautiful carvings. The temple was 90
feet high and was approached by 14 steps up to the entrance. At the
western end of the building are three doors which would have once
led to a great staircase to the adyton to which only the priests and
oracles had access. Inside the adyton is a small chapel that held
the cult statue and a holy spring. This was where the priestess of
Apollo would have given her insights.
Opening hours:
Didyma is open daily from 8 am until 6:30 in the evening and the
best time to visit it is in the late afternoon or early evening when
most of the tourist groups have finished for the day.
How to get there?
It is located
12 miles south of Miletus in western Anatolia. uses (shared
taxi) and buses
leave on the hour between Söke and Altınkum beach via Didim village.
Visitors should ask the driver to drop them off at the junction to
the ruins.
Accommodation:
Places to stay in the area include the Pension Oracle
which has a view of the ruins and also the Medusa might also incorporate
a trip to Altınkum which is just five kilometers south of the ruins
and has a beach and many more opportunities for accommodation and
eating although it has been invaded by Brits and is very crowded and
touristy during the peak of the season.
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