Didim, a small town and a popular seaside holiday resort on the Aegean coast, on the north shore of the gulf of Güllük, is home of the antique city of Didyma with its Temple of Apollo, the Didymaion. Next to Delphi, Didyma was the most renowned oracle of the Hellenic world, first mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, and also the largest and most significant sanctuary on the territory of the great classical city Miletus. To approach it, visitors would follow the Sacred Way to Didyma, about 17 km long. Along the way, were ritual waystations, and statues of members of the Branchidae family, as well as animal figures. Some of these statues, dating to the 6th century BC are now in the British Museum, taken by Charles Newton in the 19th century.
Read more »