11 miles south of the ancient port city of Miletus on the western coast of modern-day Turkey, the Temple of Apollo at Didyma or Didymaion was the 4th largest temple in the ancient Greek world. The temple’s oracle, second in importance only to that at Delphi, played a significant role in the religious and political life of both Miletus and the greater Mediterranean world; many rulers, including Alexander the Great, visited or sent delegations to this oracle seeking the guidance and favor of Apollo. In its heyday, Didyma was not a city, but a place of worship, connected with Miletus by the so-called Sacred Way. This road was used by the pilgrims who arrived at Didyma, seeking answers to nagging questions.
The Didymaion was the 3rd and largest temple that the Greeks built around the site of a natural spring, which they believed to be the source of the oracle’s prophetic power. The first temple was a humble structure that replaced a much earlier Carian sanctuary. In the 6th century BCE, the people of nearby Miletus began construction on a second, much larger temple. Wider than and as long as the Parthenon in Athens, this second temple reflected the growing fame and influence of the oracle. This temple, however, was plundered and destroyed, either in 494 BCE by the Persian king Darius or in 479 BCE by his son and successor Xerxes. It is said it that the sacred spring ceased to flow until Alexander the Great passed through on a conquest of his own and re-consecrated the site in 331 BCE.
While Alexander reopened the site at Didyma, his siege left Miletus heavily damaged and the tariffs levied against the citizens as punishment for their resistance financially crippled the city for decades. When Miletus finally began to recover - some thirty years after Alexander’s conquest - the citizens began construction on yet another temple at the site of the sacred spring. It is this third and final temple that is known today as the Temple of Apollo at Didyma or the Hellenistic Didymaion. As was common for Greek temples of such an immense size, construction continued for centuries and the temple was never completed; even in the late 4th century CE the temple lacked a pediment or a cornice and much of the sculptural ornamentation and even several of the massive columns remained unfinished. Nevertheless, the temple must have been a magnificent sight as even the ruins can leave the modern-day visitors awestruck.
The Hellenistic Didymaion
Like the Temple of Artemis in Ephesos, the Didymaion was built to resemble from the outside an ordinary, albeit huge, Greek temple. The Didymaion possessed an enormous temple platform or podium that created a level building area of over 5,500 square meters. Upon this raised platform rested 122 massive columns, each 2.5 meters in diameter, which in turn supported an elaborate coffered roof that extended out over the entire platform. In its nearly finished state, the walls of the temple rose to a towering height of nearly 28 meters above the ground.
While the exterior of the Didymaion appeared similar to an ordinary Greek temple, the interior was quite unique. The inner chamber or adyton of a traditional Greek temple was built directly on top of the temple platform or podium. The temple at Didyma, however, was built around a sacred spring and so the floor of the adyton had to be at ground level. The architects of the Didymaion came up with an ingenious solution; they constructed two long and narrow vaulted tunnels, each over 21 meters long and just over 1 meter wide, that led from the top of the temple platform back down to the grassy floor of the adyton. This clever “hollow” design allowed the Milesians to build a traditional-looking temple that rivaled the Artemision in Ephesus while also preserving the natural spring that had long been considered the sacred source of the oracle’s power. Moreover, while from the outside the temple appeared fully roofed, the inner chamber of the Didymaion was open to the sky. This allowed the temple staff to cultivate a grove of sacred trees on the adyton floor. In this idyllic environment, amidst the trees and beside the sacred spring, stood a much smaller temple or naiskos that held the cult statue of Apollo.
The Political & Religious Significance of the Didymaion
The Temple of Apollo at Didyma played a critical role in the religious and political life of ancient Miletus. The temple complex served as the site of important religious festivals, sacrifices, and votive offerings while the oracle exercised a significant influence on Milesian civic statutes, treaties, public enterprises, and was relied upon to provide protection against enemies and to help direct public and foreign affairs.
Archaeological research
The Society of Dilettanti sent two expeditions to explore the ruins, the first in 1764 under Richard Chandler, the second in 1812 under William Gell. The first excavations in Didyma were carried out in 1858, in the area of the Sacred Way, under the direction of the British archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton.
The grounds of the Temple of Apollo were studied for the first time by French archaeologists, Olivier Rayet and Albert Thomas, in 1872. Their goal was to find the statue of Apollo, and the excavations took two years. The statue was not found. However, the dimensions of the temple were determined, and its plan was reconstructed.
In the years 1895-1896, the French team worked in Didymaion again, this time under the supervision of Bernard Haussoullier. The focus was on the northern part of the temple, but this project was quickly abandoned for economic reasons.
More time was spent in Didyma by German archaeologists who worked there on behalf of Berlin Museums from 1905 to 1937. Thanks to them, almost the entire temple was excavated. The work was resumed under the supervision of the German Archaeological Institute in 1962 and it lasts until today, with particular attention devoted to the Sacred Way.
The most surprising discovery was made by German researchers in 1979. On the inner wall of the courtyard, some barely visible lines were discovered. Upon closer examination, these lines turned out to be the plans for the temple. They survived thanks to the fact that Didymaion was never finished, and the walls were not polished. From these sketches, the researchers have learned a lot about the planning and construction of the temple.
SOURCE:Ancient History Encyclopedia
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