DIDYMA
THE IONIAN CITIES
The eastern shore of the Aegean sea is full of wonderful ruins of classical Greece. One of the reasons for this is that Ionia, one the largest, and most important of the Aegean provinces of classical Greece, was located in Western Anatolia. Ionia today offers the traveller some wonderful ruins: Didyma, Miletus and Priene to the south, Ephesus to the north and many other cities in between. On both our western tours we spend two full days exploring these wonderful sites.
Didyma, whose immense temple of Apollo would have been the eighth wonder of the world had it been completed, still has two columns standing for 2700 years.
MILETUS
Miletus was a major port city of the Aegean. Graced with three natural harbours, Miletus was a major commercial and cultural centre. Colonies from Miletus spread north along the Aegean coast as far as the Black Sea. The city’s strategic importance is attested to by the fact that it was conquered and re-conquered by the Persians in their attempts to gain and retain control of Anatolia.
Tour Highlights: Miletus, Theatre, Lion Bay, Baths of Faustina, Ilyas Bey Camii
Priene
Across the old estuary from Miletus is Priene, a classical Greek city which was the first fully designed and planned urban centre of the eastern Aegean.
It is a wonderfully situated ruin whose theatre is a major highlight. A stop at Priene is a highlight of your Aegean day on the Western tours
Tour Highlights: Bouleuterion, Byzantine church, Gymnasium, Temple of Athena, Theatre, Aqueduct
ON TOURS: ANATOLIAN ADVENTURE, TRAVELLER’S TURKEY, PATHS OF THE SAINTS
EPHESUS
Designated as the Roman capital of the province of Asia in the second century CE, Ephesus was an important religious and commercial centre long before the ascendancy of Rome. Legend tells us that it was an outpost of the Amazons before being founded as a city by Androcolous. The famous Temple of Artemis--one of the seven wonders of the ancient world--was erected in Ephesus.
Ephesus played a major role in the development of the early Christian Church. St. Paul preached here and wrote one of his most influential epistles to the church in Ephesus. St. John lived, preached, and, according to legend, died here; and Ephesus became the last home of The Virgin Mary whose shrine, the Mereyemana, is revered by both Christian and Muslim pilgrims
Gymnasium of Vedius, The great theatre, Cretes Way, Sacred Way, Library of Celsus, Gate of Hercules, Prytaneeum,Harbour Street, the public toilets, the brothel, the agora, The church of St Mary.
Selcuk
Named after the Turks who first conquered Anatolia, Selcuk is a pleasant town in close proximity to the famous sites of Ephesus. Ephesus is an important stop on all our tours of Western Turkey and is especially significant in our Paths of the Saints tour.
Some Touring Highlights: Ayasuluk Hill, Isa Bey Mosque, Basilica of St John, Temple of Artemis, Temple of Apollo :Meryamana, Virgin Mary’s house, Grotto of the Seven Sleepers
ON TOURS: ANATOLIAN ADVENTURE, TRAVELLER’S TURKEY, PATHS OF THE SAINTS
