Full
Day Didyma-Milletus-Priene Tour Details;
Didyma: The word Didyma meant "twins" and was
associated by some as being the meeting place of Zeus
and Leto to have their twins Apollo and Artemis. Didyma
was famed as a prophecy center dedicated to Apollo which
served a similar purpose as the Delphi of Anatolia. It
was not a city but a sanctuary linked to Miletus by
Milesians with a 19 km / 12 mi sacred road. However,
this road may not have been constructed until the end of
the 1C AD. In addition to pilgrimages made by sea, some
festivals of drama, music and sports were held there
every four years.
Miletus: Miletus, an
ancient city located near the present Akkoy at the mouth
of the Buyuk Menderes (Meander) River, owed its
importance to its position on trade routes. It was one
of the largest cities in Anatolia with a population of
between 80,000 and 100,000. Highly prosperous, it
founded many colonies and was the home of the 6C BC
philosophers Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Thales, the
town planner Hippodamus and architect Isidorus. Miletus
seems to have produced geniuses the way Aphrodisias
produced sculptors.
Priene:
The ancient harbor city of Priene probably
changed its location when the silt of the Meander River
threatened to bury it. Now it is nearly 16 km / 10 mi
from the sea. The original place of the city has never
been found but it was probably a peninsula with two
harbors. Priene was laid out on a Hippodamian system of
grid plan at the foot of a spectacular cliff on Mount
Mycale and contained many famous examples of Hellenistic
art and architecture. All the streets intersect at right
angles. Remaining small with about 4 or 5 thousand
inhabitants and never of great political significance it
shared the same history as the other Ionian cities.
Day 03
After breakfast join in tour of Pergamum (lunch is
included) after the tour transfer to airport for flight
to Istanbul. Arrive in Istanbul and transfer to your
hotel.
Full Day Pergamum Tour Details;
Visit to AESCULAPIUM,
ancient medical center built in the name of AESCULAPIS,
God of Medicine. Lunch and continue to PERGAMUM
ACROPOLIS. Visit ATENA and TROJAN TEMPLES, TEMPLE of
ZEUS,TEMPLE of DIONYSOS, GYMNASIUM of YOUTH, ODEON,
LIBRARY, AGORA, GREAT THEATRE and ROMAN BATH. Return to
Izmir and flight back to Istanbul.