Mighty. Colossal. Massive. Huge.
Some of the words describing the Temple of Apollo in the coastal town of Didim, Turkey. And since it was directly along our route yesterday, it only made sense to stop in and see it!
We got packed up and hopped in the car around 10:30am. There was no direct route to either the temple, or our destination at Yalikavak, so we first had to drive around the industrial city of Söke.
Then, I wanted to stay off the main highway and take a more interesting route.
Heading towards the city of Söke.
As a tourist, there is no reason to visit Söke!
Scenery along the way.
While virtually all tourists to Turkey know of the the famous ruins of the city of Ephesus, another nearby ancient city was Miletus. The cities were of the same size and importance at one time, and yet Ephesus has for some reason become the "go to" place for tourists. Miletus is only 78 kms (48 miles) away.
And we were driving right by it. Unfortunately, it would have been a three hour stop to properly see it, and if we wanted to stop at the Apollo Temple, we simply wouldn't have time.
However, we were able to stop along the road and zoom in on the Miletus theater.
We pulled in to the empty parking lot near the Temple of Apollo in the town of Didim. We were literally the only car in the parking lot!
First, we walked around the wall surrounding the temple. The wall was built about 50 years ago using rubble from the temple.
Street near the Temple of Apollo.
Ancient street near the Temple of Apollo.
The street above is known as "The Sacred Way". It's an 18 km (11 mile) "paved" road that runs from the Temple of Apollo to the ancient city of Miletus. Built in the 6th century. Yes, this road was built about 1,500 years ago! They built roads to last back then!
Ruth, at an interesting water fountain.
This part of the wall fell down very recently.
Our guess is that it is from the earthquake a couple of weeks ago.
Our first view of the Temple of Apollo.
They began building the Temple of Apollo around 300 BC, and by 200 BC it still wasn't finished. And it never was completed. It was just too big! It was 120 meters (400 feet) long, and 25 meters (82 feet) high. The roof was supported by 108 columns, of which some were never finished, and only three remain standing.
There were severe earthquakes that leveled the structure. First in the 7th century, and again in the 15th century. More recently, another one in 1955.
Look at the size of that tourist compared to the columns.
Rubble.
More rubble.
Ruth, beside one of the massive columns.
Me!
This column still lays as it fell.
We think they built supports for it during excavations, then did the excavation.
Huge walls.
How did they cut the stone so exactly?
Two tunnels lead to the inner courtyard.
These floors and walls are original.
The inner courtyard.
Two more tourists.
A depiction of what it would have looked like.
Remains of a stone lion sculpture.
We were there just over an hour, and we still had a fair bit of driving to do. We had a bite to eat in the parking lot, and then headed out again.
We drove through a couple of seaside resort towns, but they seemed very run down.
Lots of olive trees.
The city of Bodrum is a big resort town very popular with British tourists. Especially the younger crowd. Lots of nightclubs and bars, and it didn't seem like it was our thing, although we may take a drive over there tomorrow just to check it out. Instead, we are staying near the town of Yalikavak on the other side of the peninsula from Bodrum.
However it didn't take long for us to figure out that the entire Bodrum peninsula is tourist homes and resorts. Not really our style, so we're glad that we only booked three nights here. In actual fact, this was just a stopover for us to break up the drive because we have to return to Fethiye to redo our car rental contract.
Big resort complex.
Interesting rocks.
Maybe there is some hiking up there.
We found our Airbnb rental. It's nothing special, and pretty basic. But for 150 lira ($25 CAD, $19 USD) per night, it will do.
Ruth, making dinner.
This is the second Airbnb rental we have had where the photos show an oven and gas stove combo, but none of it is hooked up. Instead, there is a two burner electric hot plate. Yes, the oven and gas stove are there... but they are just there for show I guess. We don't get it.
The enclosed balcony.
Living room.
Nice views from every room
Bedroom.
Bathroom is nothing special either. Just a bathroom. In fact, just two bathrooms. This is a two bedroom apartment, with two bathrooms.
60% chance of rain this afternoon, so we are heading out this morning to go for a long walk.
Yesterday's drive 190 kms (118 miles).
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Decent price drop on the Coleman Pack-Away 4-in-1 Adjustable Height Camp Table.
And in Canada...
I can't even imagine how they built those structures back then. Incredible! Okay apartment but really nice views. I am loving this tour of Turkey!
ReplyDeleteNor can we! That thought went through our minds several times as we wandered around the ruins.
DeleteThe views from the apartment are fantastic, the apartment itself has no endearing qualities, it will do for our three night stay but I don't think we would want to have stayed any longer in it.
Like Kuşadası, Bodrum used to be a small town of mostly cube-shaped, white-washed buildings. A lovely, quiet, very charming place. And then it was “discovered” and became the over-sized resort town you see today. With the influx of international tourists from cold-weather countries such as Russia, Scandinavia, Germany, and the UK that growth has happened all along the Mediterranean coast, eliminating the charm of old and replacing it with a concrete jungle in many places. These places would be overrun with domestic tourists in the summer and international tourists this time of the year ... except that COVID-19 has reduced their numbers greatly.
ReplyDeleteThat statue Ruth posed with is a “Şerbetçi” ... these men user to wander the streets selling cups of şerbet...fruit flavored cold drinks ... made from a concentrated fruit syrup. They don’t do it much anymore for hygienic reasons as they used to simply rinse and re-use the few glasses they carried. You might still see them in places ... probably using disposable cups.
Such a shame that so many of these pretty little fishing towns have turned into these unattractive concrete jungles. I can understand that for the people it must bring in lots of money for the economy and the local families living and working here. It is definitely a double sided sword. We are happy that we didn't book any longer than three nights here. We are in a "small" town away from Bodrum and all we here all day long is construction noise and lots of dust! :-(
DeleteThank you for explaining about the statue, it now saves me the trouble of looking it up when I go to label our pictures. We will have to keep our eyes open while we are out and about, just in case we spot one of these rare men around.
We do love these titbits of informative that you pass along, thank you. :-)
Does the price you quote for your Air BnB include cleaning fees?
ReplyDeleteAny price I ever quote includes everything that we paid.
DeleteAnother very interesting blog.....the size of those pillars make me think the temple of Apollo was built for giants. Hahaha. Love the views of your apartment. Thanks for the pic and info about that water fountain staue.
ReplyDeleteEither built for giants or built by giants, lol!
DeleteWe really do love the views from our apartment but the construction noise is terrible and we seem to be surrounded by it. The apartment itself is adequate but certainly not one of the better ones. We are glad that we are only doing a three night stay here.
Wow,they sure loved theater! And I wonder how much the stone mason earned? Obviously they had special skills, but did they do this because they had special skills, or were they forced to do that? Take care, Rawn Stone
ReplyDeleteYes, they sure did! The actually stone carvers would have made money for their work and they probably did alright but the guys moving all the stones around and placing them to actually build the structures were more than likely slaves.
DeleteI believe you are right, Ruth! about slaves and Stone carvers
DeleteThat is so strange about the ovens "for show only". Seems like false advertising to me! Still, I could get lost in the views from the apartment, despite its shortcomings. Wow.
ReplyDeleteOvens are definitely not popular in Turkey but gas burners are, so we aren't quite sure why the stove and oven are in this apartment unless our host has plans to get it all hooked up eventually. The views are definitely the highlight of this apartment, we have no issues with that at all! :-)
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