PRIENE - MILETUS - DIDYMA

Step back in time and visit Priene, an early Ionian port, Miletus; birth place of many world famous philosophers and site of many ancient ruins, including the well preserved faustina baths. Last but not the least visit Didyma and visit the magnificient temple of Apollo once the most sacred of all monuments.

Priene
Priene was once an industrial city with two ports stretched out over the peninsula. In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great dedicated a temple to Athena at Priene. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of Ionian architecture designed by Pytheos.

Miletus
The ancient city of Miletus was the oldest and most powerful of the twelve Ionian cities in Asia Minor. The city possessed four harbours, one of which was known as the Lion Harbour because two lion statues flanked the entrance. The remains of these statues can still be seen.

Didyma

Didyma was never a large city and its fame was connected to a sacred spring and the temple founded over it. A Sacred Way connected Miletus to Didyma, the latter part of which was lined with the statues of lions and sphinxes. This important street dates back at least to the 6th century BC. However, the earliest remains to be found within the Temple of Apollo dates back to the 8th and 7th centuries BC but the Temple of Apollo that we see today was built when Alexander the Great conquered the Anatolian regions and is one of the largest temples of the Hellenistic period, preceded only by the Artemision of Ephesus and the Temple of Hera, Samos.