| Daily tours to Didyma, Miletus & Priene |
Price 50 Euro per person Includes Itinerary We will visit three ancient cities today while driving through beautiful Turkish farmland and countryside. Sites you'll see today * Didyma was not an ancient city, but rather a sacred place of pagan worship. It's fame rests in it's Temple of Apollo that was built in the 7th-8th century BC, although the works seen today are from the 4th century efforts of Alexander the Great. The Diymaion Temple was the 3rd largest temple in the ancient world. Soothsaying and prophecies were told here by an elite group of priests for 1400 years until Christianity became the state religion of the Byzantines and ended pagan practices. The temple was famous for its Oracle that gave divine information about the future to the priests who then relayed such prophecies to the worshipping people. * Miletus was an important commercial and governmental center from 700 BC until 700 AD. Although today this ancient city is surrounded by farm land, when it was at it's peak the Aegean Sea rose to it's city walls. You can still see where the harbor once brought goods to and fro. The most memorable part of visiting Miletus is to sit in one of the 15,000 seats of it's ancient theatre, and then wander the passageways that connect the sections of the theatre. Miletos was known as a city of philosophers who were at the forefront of scientific inquiry. Important Milesians were some of the first to make maps, explain the lunar eclipse, plan towns, recognize the atom and construct an accurate sundial. * Priene is found in a dramatic setting high up in the mountains, overlooking the farmland way below. It dates back to 300 BC when it was one of the League of Ionian Cities. It's ancient population was 5,000 and had a well planned grid system design for its streets. In early days it had a port but by the Roman period the nearby Maiandros River silted up the land into a swamp. Free pick up service is available from all of the hotels in Kusadasi and Selcuk. |
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