History and sights of Didym

 Source: tourism-travel-guide.ru

- Temple of Apollo;
- The ruins of the city of Miletus (Miletos);
- "Sacred Road";
-  Prien City.

In fact, it is possible to find many interesting sights near Didyma, because people began to settle here many hundreds of years ago. The first mention of this Ionian city was made by ancient Greek poet Homer. According to legend, in a local forest, the goddess Leto (Letona) conceived from Zeus and gave birth to the most famous twin gods - Apollo and Artemis. Even the name of the city is translated from Greek as "twin" or "Apollo."

Subsequently, the inhabitants built (approximately in the second millennium BC) the largest temple on the territory of ancient Greece, dedicated to Apollo.

Mainly the oracle of this god and his assistants lived here. Residents from all over the country came to pay homage to the gods, and the town of Didym expanded. An altar, a fountain, columns (some of them are still standing majestically, while the others have already fallen to ruins), the remains of walls and other structures have survived to this day.

In 494 BC, Didim, together with the temple of Apollo, was destroyed and plundered by the Persians, after which it could not recover for centuries and turned into a seedy village. But the authorities of modern Turkey decided to restore the former greatness of the city and set about developing tourism in this area.

By the way, during the destruction, the huge statue of Apollo was taken to Ecbatan, but then returned back to Didim by Seleukos, the commander of Alexander the Great.

Modern Didim is not as noisy as the nearest  Kusadasi or "distant" Izmir. The region has acquired its admirers. There are quite a few tourists from countries of the former Soviet Union, but mostly there are Europeans. Didim, like any other modern Turkish resort has first-class hotels with the All inclusive system; clean and well-maintained beaches marked with the "Blue Flag"; amusement parks for children.

Almost all resorts of the Aegean coast of Turkey are suitable not only for felting in the sun -you can and should walk through the epic ancient ruins of cities. This is true for Didim: literally a few steps from the city there is a remarkable village of Milet. In past it was the richest city of ancient Greece, to which more than 90 colonies were subordinate! The ruins of the city of Miletus (Miletos) with its unsurpassed amphitheater, Byzantine castle, temple of Artemis, baths,

the "Sacred Road" and many others are located near the village.

There is a very interesting legend of the formation of the city of Miletus. According to it, the city was founded by the son of Apollo. Apollo fell in love with a  beautiful daughter of King Minos. Trying to convince the girl to become his beloved, Apollo promised her eternal love, wealth and immortality. The girl agreed (and who would have refused: handsome, god, eternal life in love and prosperity). But the god (as often in such cases) forgot his promises right after the first night. And the girl became pregnant and gave birth to a son. In order not to be completely disgraced, she decided to leave the little one in the forest. But the world is not without good people, or rather, animals: a wolf fed him with its milk, and other animals raised it. Like Mowgli of divine origin. He grew up a handsome and quite an educated man... By the will of fate, he left his native Crete for the territory of modern Turkey. There he founded a city named after himself - Miletus. And since the young man was half-god, fortune favored him in almost all undertakings. So this city turned out to be the richest and most culturally developed.

Right next to Miletus (only 17 kilometers away) was an ancient Greek city of Priyen. When it was built - in the XI century BC - it was located right on the seashore at the foot of the Mikale hill. At the height of its heyday, it was a large and rich port.

But time passed and the nearby small river Meander with its bottom sediments pushed the sea further and further away from the city. After some time, Prien ceased to be a port city, but its value wasn’t lost. During the period of Byzantine rule the bishop lived here.

For what reason the city turned into a deaf village is not exactly known. There are several versions: the first is that the sea has gone far from the city and the trade routes began to pass by it; the second is a major earthquake somewhere in the 13th century AD; the third - in the same period, the people were “wiped out” by an epidemic of malaria.

However, Prien is interesting, as it vividly shows the classical style of the structure of the cities of Hellenistic period, with all its streets, the first amphitheater in all of ancient Greece, and many other buildings.

As you can see, in Didim all you have to do is to combine the serene sunbathing on the beaches with a rich excursion life. Didim has a lot to offer.