@ Travel Turkey

Didim, home of the antique city of Didyma with its ruined Temple of Apollo, is a small town, popular seaside holiday resort and district of Aydın Province on the Aegean coast of western Turkey, 123 km (76 mi) from the city of Aydın.

About Didim

Didim is located on the north shore of the gulf of Güllük opposite the Bodrum peninsula villages such as Torba, Türkbükü and Yalıkavak. The district consists of Didim itself, a coastal town of 26,000 people and a number of small towns including Altınkum (which means golden sand), Gümüşkum (silver sand), Sarıkum (yellow sand) and, well you get the picture….

Tourism is the main source of income for the area, especially in summer, but agriculture is also an important contributor, the main crops are wheat and cotton. Animals, especially sheep and goats, are raised mainly for local consumption.

This coast has thus become a very popular holiday resort and is genuinely attractive with its long sandy beaches, clear blue sea, ancient ruins to visit, and its own microclimate, benefitting from hundreds of days of sun a year and warm winters, allowing residents to enjoy the famous beaches and watersports even in January. Perhaps the most attractive bays are the smaller quieter ones further from the centre, such as Haydar, along a dirt road around the shore of Akbük (white bay). The village of Akbük is one of Didim’s classiest, and has a yacht marina.

The growth of Didim in the 1980s was enhanced with the building of hotels to accommodate visitors, originally from Britain but now from Turkey itself, on cheap package holidays. Since about 2001 British people have begun to buy holiday homes in Didim, establishing themselves as a visible community of many thousands, to the extent that utility bills in the district are now printed in English as well as Turkish. You will see the Union Jack and other British flags all around Didim, especially in the bars.

Didim town has hotels, a weekly market, a waterpark and the antique temple of Apollo nearby. Didim is also close to a number of other ancient towns and natural wonders: Lake Bafa national park is nearby, along with the Büyük Menderes River and historic sites such as Miletos and Priene.

In the evenings most people try to find somewhere quiet to sit by the sea and look at the lights of other towns across the water, but if you are of a more energetic nature Didim has two or three discotheques, and a number of smaller bars and clubs, some with live music, mostly Türkü (Turkish folk music). However Didim is really a quiet family resort with great coastline, and if it’s nightlife you are looking for you would be better off in Bodrum.

The construction of the new fifty million dollar Didim D Marina is expected to encourage further tourism and rising property prices in the area. Development of the third beach area in Altinkum has already begun with an expected completion date of 2009.

Ancient Site Didyma

Didyma is located in the village of Yenihisar. 4 km inland from the coast called Altinkum(Golden sand) and 15 kms South of Akköy,near Söke. Didyma was actually a sacred site and not a city, in whose centre was a great temple built in the name of the sun sun Apollo.

For many the most dramatic feature is the ruins of the Ionic Temple of Apollo with its columns pointing up into the sky, and its legend of the romance between Apollo and Daphne. The original temple and home of an oracle was destroyed during the Persian Wars and the one we see today was rebuilt following the victory over the Persians of Alexander the Great.

However much Apollo may be considered as one of the twelve deities dwelling on Mount Olympus in Grek mythology,he is actually an Anatolian god,the counterpart of the Hittite god,Apulunas.The research concerning the origins of the names of Didyma and didymaion has been a subject of discussion going on for years Apollo is the one of the son of Zeus and twin brother to Artemis,the Moon-goddess. The word Didymaion means twins and this is the reason why the place the Temple of Apollo stands was called so.The Greeks,believing in fate, looked upon Apollo as an oracle as well. The oracles received from the priests in the temple of Apollo at Delphoi influenced and changed the lives of people to a great extent. The Ionians built the temple in Didyma as the second oracle centre, and they constructed it with such care that it was one of the most magnificent temples of the times

Nearby Miletos, the ruins of the ancient city including a well-preserved antique theatre, stadium, baths of Faustina, temple of Serapis and much more.