|
|
|
ABOUT
ALTINKUM TURKEY
|
Altinkum
is a small and friendly resort. You will get to know
the local people very quickly because they will enjoy
talking with you and offering a cup of Turkish tea or
apple tea. Does not matter if this is your first or
last trip, you will find yourself coming back to
Altinkum year after year to visit your new friends.
Didim
is shaped as a peninsula surrounding Mugla on the east
coast with huge inlet of Akbuk town, Aegean sea on the
west and east coast, Lake Bafa and the Menderes River
on the northern coast. 106 km's to City of Aydin, 53
km' to town of Söke, 73 km's to Kusadasi, 110 km's to
Bodrum. Spread to 300 km2. of area.
ALTINKUM
means “golden sands” and with its beaches which
gently shelve into the inviting turquoise blue Aegean,
you will soon see how the resort got its name.
Excellent Beach life in Altinkum has also got water
sports or pedals for those who prefer the pace of life
a bit slower. Sun beds and umbrellas are available for
rent and once settled there will be no need for you to
move until sunset.
|
|
Apollon
Temple |
|
In
antiquity a Sacred Way connected Miletus to the
port of Didyma and its famous temple. The last stretch
of road was flanked by statues of sphinxes and
reclining lions, now to be seen in the British Museum
in London, This important street dating back at
least to the 6th century B.C. confirms the hypothesis
of the existence here of a small archaic temple, far
earlier than the foundation of the colossal place of
worship dedicated to Apollo. Traces of this original
building have in fact been identified inside the large
temple. |
|
|
|
|
|
Evidence
of the popularity of the sanctuary goes back to the
archaic period, in particular from the 6th century
B.C. on, when mention is made of gifts offered by the
powerful and by kings, comparable to those offered to
the famous oracle of Delphi. In line with what
Pausanias affirms, it is highly likely that at Didyma,
as in many other centers of Asia Minor, the Greeks
replaced all forms of local cult with their own forms
of worship. It seems to have been ascertained that the
sacred place dedicated to Apollo existed before the
first Ionic colonies settled here. Even the statue of Apollo
capturing a stag found in the temple can be
related to religious motifs of obvious Hittite and
Anatolian extraction. Further evidence that a cult of
Apollo existed prior to Greek colonization is to be
found in Homer's Iliad. |
|
|
|
|
|
The
history of archaeology regarding this temple is
relatively recent, and dates back only to the 1960s.
Excavations undertaken by German archaeologists led
first to the identification of the foundations of a
perimetral wall of the sanctuary, thought to have been
built in the 8th or 7th century B.C. The subsequent
discovery of a colonnade dating to the end of the 7th
century B.C. leads to the supposition that the
original nucleus was at the time enlarged. The first
temple was burned by the Persians at the beginning of
the 5th century B.C., but when Alexander the Great
conquered the Anatolian |
|
regions,
a much larger and more scenographic place of worship
was built on the same site. The
Temple of Apollo Didyma is one of the largest
of the Hellenistic classical period, preceded solely
by the Artemision of Ephesus and the Temple of Hera in
Samos. Still today an idea of the ancient splendor of
the building with its impressive number of Ionic
columns still transpires from these imposing
magnificent ruins. Even though work on the temple
complex continued from the 3rd century B.C. up to
Roman times, it was never finished. The shrine itself
was surrounded by a portico with two rows of columns.
Some of these architectural Clements have withstood
the ravages of time and the earthquakes and still
stand in their solemn beauty, often complete with
capitals and architraves. The shrine where prophecies
were revealed in the name of Apollo was faced in
marble brought from the Aegean islands. Of particular
note among the numerous decorations found in the
temple are various busts of divinities such as Apollo,
Jupiter, Artemis and Latona, as well as capitals
ornamented with heads of griffins and bulls, which,
together with a head of Medusa that was
part of a frieze on an architrave, are examples of 2nd
century A.D. sculpture. |
|
|
|
|
Not
far from the temple, a Stadium surrounded by
seven rows of seats has been identified. Apparently
this installation was used for the sacred
competitions, which accompanied the religious rites
held in the temple. Some of the tiers of seats are
incised with names that belong to the late Hellenistic
period. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
