DIDYMA

Didyma is 15 km from Miletus, and you will be confronted with the magnificent and massive columns of the temple of Apollo. A concrete flight of steps near the entrance takes one down to the temple. Formerly it was linked to Miletus by a sacred road. The road, uncovered by Prof. Nauman and Dr. Tucheld was flanked by statues on both sides. These dated from 500 B.C. This suggests that before the Apollo temple was built, there existed on the site a smaller, archaic temple. In fact, even today, the remains of such a temple are still to be seen within the Apollon. The cult of Apollo is very ancient and well-established. The name of Apollo itself did not come from the Greek, but in the Iliad it is referred to as Lycian. The fact that Apollo is an Anatolian-based deity is evident from every page of the Iliad. At the beginning of the epic, when Agememnon was looting the shores of Anatolia, Chryse had taken the daughter of the priest of the temple of Apollo prisoner, and had kept her for himself. When her father, Hryses, the priest of the Apollon brought gifts to free his daughter from Agememnon, leader of the Achaens, who had come with the intention of conquering Troy, he was sent away. He then implored the gods to take revenge on the king, in the name of the temple he had built for him. Since excavations have revealed that the seige of Troy took place in 1200 B.C. and the priest was referring to a temple built by himself, it is evident that before the lonians migrated to Anatolia, the cult of Apollo existed there. In Didyma, there is evidence of the cult existing long before the present temple was built.

The old temple was burnt down by the Persians during 494 B.C. and when Alexander the Great conquered Anatolia, a larger and more spectacular temple was built on the site of the old one, by him.

The collosal temple rests on a foundation with seven basal steps leading up to it, except on the side flanking the main portal, where there is aflight of thirteen steps to the peristyle, to allow easier access. The facade of the temple contains ten, and the two sides 23 magnificent columns. The building measures 190.34x51.13, and is one of the biggest temples of its period. It has a total of 124 columns on the interior. Two of the facade columns have been renewed by the French. Today, the place where they once stood is easily recognisable. The bases remaining are quite unusual, being decorated with various motifs. Some of them have been left unfinished. The two columns standing on one side show us that temple took an extremely long time to build, and was never completed, it was continued during the 3 and 2 century B.C., and some of it was completed during the Roman period. The three standing columns have survived a major earthquake of the XV century. The first row of columns beginning at the termination of the steps, and the second row a little behind them. Opposite the portal steps, on the interior, apart from the double colonnade at the front of the building, there were 12 columns on three rows. The columns were 2.40m in diameter, and 19.70m in length. These were of the Ionic order.
This was the sanctuary where the god was consulted, and prophecies were spoken in his name from a chamber 1.40m. high. The massive marble entrance stone is 60 tons in weight. This alone shows the scale and magnificence of the temple. It was originally thought that this marble, and other marble stones used in the building of this temple were obtained from the Aegean islands. Recent research undertaken by German experts has revealed that the stone was in fact quarried from the Mersenet plateau high above Heraklion, and that the road used for transporting the marble has been discovered. Thus each passing day brings new information, indicating that our knowledge of these places is never complete.

On ascending the steps, the octagonal base of a column and two other columns decorated with geometrical desingn and floral motifs, which were erected in 40 A.D. can be seen. The bases of these columns are completely different. This again emphasises the delays in building this temple, through wars, local raids and lack of funds.

The tall fine columns bore Ionic capitals, while the corner capitals were finely decorated. The capital at the south-east corner was decorated with the head of Apollo. This is now in the Istanbul Archeological Museum. The capital in the north-eastern corner was decorated with a griffon relief, with wings outspread. Over the capitals was a long architrave, and over this a frieze decorated with the mask of Medusa, like that which we saw on entering the temple. Between the masks of Medusa arc carvings of acanthus leaves.

The double colonnaded section of the temple and the facade was covered with a marble roof and eaves, decorated with squares 3.32m width, quartered to give a panelled effect.

The floor of the temple was also marble. The steps on the eastern facade were inscribed with names. These same steps were also used as the banks for the stadium which was situated close to the temple. A butress wall surrounding the temple has five portals, of which some traces are still to be seen.

The traces of an altar are to be found, together with various architectural fragments near the main facade of the building. Let us now pass through a marble tunnel in order to enter the temple. The tunnel is covered in marble and is 21m long and 2.87m in height and 1.20 in width. The same tunnel lies on the other side of the temple. The front section of it was closed off during the Byzantine period, and has been used as a cistern. A basilica was also erected in the main courtyard. During the excavations these were individually identified. Within the open cella lay what is known as the Naiskos, measuring 14.23x8.24 m, which had 4 Ionic columns in front of it. Here was the bronze statue of Apollo, brought from Akbatan by Seleukos during 300 B.C.

The well in the courtyard is filled with sacred water. The chresmographeion, or minor temple is enclosed by high walls, 25m in height. These are supported by 11 butresses on the sides and three on the rear. These are in the form of massive stone juts 3.75m in width and 17.50m in height. The capitals on these column-just were decorated with griffon motifs and lyres. The lyre motifs continued between the capitals.

Winged eagle griffons and lion griffons are opposed with one paw raised. The wall was raised slightly over these capitals but the roof was not completed. Let us now go up to the chresnographeion via the 22 white steps. Three portals lead into this chamber. The central portal is flanked on both sides by a column.

The chamber itself, measuring 9x14m. had no windows, consequently the-interior was quite dim. The congregation would attend outside the sanctuary, while the oracle would be pronouced from within by the priest. There were two flights of steps ant the side. These most probably led to an upper room, or to the terrace. This chamber was linked to the pronaos, that is to say the porch in front of the building by a portal or window.