Introducing Didyma (Didim)

Unlike Priene and Miletus, Didyma wasn't a city, but its astonishing Temple of Apollo was the ancient world's second-largest, its 122 original columns only five fewer than Ephesus' Temple of Artemis. Since the latter has only one lonesome column today, visiting Didyma really helps travellers visualise the lost grandeur of Artemis' temple, too.

In Greek, Didyma means 'twin' (here, referring to the twin siblings Apollo and Artemis). Didyma's oracle of Apollo had an importance second only to the Oracle of Delphi. Although destroyed by Persians in the early 5th-century BC, Alexander the Great revitalised it in 334 BC and, about 30 years later, Seleucid rulers planned to make it the world's largest temple. However, it was never completely finished and Ephesus' Temple of Artemis took the record instead.

In 303 AD, the oracle allegedly supported Emperor Diocletian's harsh persecution of Christians – the last such crackdown, since Constantine the Great soon thereafter made the empire a Christian polity. The now unpopular oracle was silenced by Emperor Theodosius I (r 379–395), who closed other pagan temples such as the Delphic Oracle.

The impressive temple site is surrounded by souvenir shops, tourist restaurants and a few small pensions (being an archaeological site, building modifications aren't allowed). Entering from the ticket booth, clamber up the wide steps to marvel at the massively thick and towering columns.

Behind the temple porch, oracular poems were inscribed on a great doorway and presented to petitioners. Covered ramps by the porch lead down to the cella (inner room), where the oracle prophesied after drinking from the sacred spring. A sacred path lined with ornate statues (relocated to the British Museum in 1858) once led to a bygone harbour.

After Didyma, the sandy Altınkum Beach is a popular package-tour destination, and you can buy snacks here.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/didyma-didim#ixzz3rwDUcF6C