I came to Turkey to see the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and here it is... There is nothing left. Just that column, but the interesting thing is that a few kilometers from here is the ancient Greek city of Didyma, and there they had a temple exactly like this one, except that it is preserved. So let's go see it, and let's get an idea of what this temple was. Located on the western coast of Turkey is this region known as Ionia, which in ancient times was the site of several Greek city-states such as Ephesus, Smyrna, Miletus, and Priene. In the ancient city of Ephesus, in the time of Alexander the Great, the Ephesians built the temple of the goddess Artemis, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and the largest Greek temple ever built. Not far from Ephesus, south of the great city of Miletus, was the sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma. This site was one of the most important oracles in the Mediterranean. There was a certain rivalry between both cities that led the people of Didyma to build a temple dedicated to the god Apollo, twin brother of the goddess Artemis, hence the name of the site, Didyma, which in Greek means twins. They built the temple of Apollo for the purpose of competing with the Temple of Artemis in the neighboring city, and therefore made it as similar as they could to the Ephesian temple, but this building probably surpasses it in magnificence. Especially, the Temple of Apollo in Didyma is unique because it is dechastyle, it has ten columns both in front and in the back, unlike the Temple of Artemis, which is octastyle, meaning it has eight columns. This makes the Temple of Apollo at Didyma a truly unique example, as no other Greek temple was built with a decastilian organization. This temple is rare and unique for several other reasons. It is so large that it has a dipterous design, meaning that it is surrounded by two rows of columns, while most large Greek temples are usually surrounded by a single row of columns. And as you approach the temple, you see how the rows of columns extend into the interior of the building, giving the impression of being a forest of enormous columns. This particular space was copied from the temple of Artemis, which also had it, since Artemis was the goddess of hunting, trees, and forests, and therefore the forest of columns symbolizes the sacred forests that the Greeks used to consecrate to the gods. And the density of the columns is as impressive as an Egyptian hypostyle hall because the columns are very close together, they are enormous, but also this is, well, in the Greek Ionic style, so it has a very particular essence. Another peculiarity is that the bases of the exterior columns are ornamented with various designs; they have twelve faces with carved panels on each face. The level of artistry in these panels adds a touch of majesty to the building. This feature was probably also taken from the temple of Artemis, which also had carvings on the bases of its columns, some of which can be seen in the main rooms of the British museum along with many other remains. The temple is very big, just look at the size of the people walking on the side. The temple measures 118 meters in length and 60 meters in width. The interior of the ship measures 23 meters wide and each column is more than 19 meters high, making the entire building more than 25 meters high. So if we put the building next to the Parthenon, which is considered the perfect canon of Greek architecture, and is already a large Greek temple for its time, you can see that the temple of Didyma is almost the Twice as big, it is one of the largest temples in the ancient world, and there is a reason why they were able to make such a huge temple. As you explore the ancient cities of Greece today, you will notice that most Greek temples were built in the Doric order, as it is the oldest and originated in western mainland Greece. However, in the region of Ionia, the Ionic order emerged, signifying a great architectural innovation that allowed the construction of taller structures thanks to their more slender and elevated proportions. These are some of the Ionic temples that are known for their monumental scale, placed next to the Parthenon, of the Doric order. These temples are the pinnacle of Ionian power, opulence, and cultural innovation. There was no temple of such magnitude in mainland Greece at that time. And just to give you an idea of the scale of this temple, look at the size of the column, I can't even get it to fit in the picture how big it is. Look at all the details, the carvings, it's incredible, and all the columns are like that, they all have special carvings and sculpture, it's really impressive, spectacular. There is an unusual antechamber located between the pronaos and the naos. To access the naos, the sacred space of the temple, you do not go through the center of the building as in other temples. This opening seen in the plan, although it is 14 meters high, is not a door, since the floor level of this antechamber is one and a half meters above the level of the pronaos. Instead, there are two small doors on each side that lead through narrow vaulted passages directly to the naos, the floor of which is at ground level, and not above the level of the stylobate as is normal. This is because there was an underground spring that had to be accessible from the naos for rituals. The naos was a hyperspace. In architecture, hypetro a space without a roof. This was perhaps due to the fact that without columns it would be almost impossible to roof this enormous space. Other temples with a hypetro naos are the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus and the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, both in a much more deteriorated state. Typically, in Greek temples, a statue of the god to whom the temple was dedicated was placed in the naos. In this temple, the statue of the god Apollo was inside a small temple inside the temple, known as Naiskos, located at the western end of the naos. Not much remains of this small temple, but the foundations are still visible. It measured 14 meters by 8 meters, and had four Ionic columns in its front. The walls that can be seen today are only a third of their original height. So imagine how small you would have felt inside this monumental structure. Some of the capitals that used to crown the pilasters, those square columns that are attached to the wall, are displayed in front of the walls, and you can appreciate the mastery with which this temple was made. Pairs of griffins and flower ornaments are shown. As I have shown in other sites such as the Acropolis of Athens or the sanctuary of Delphi, Greek architecture of the classical period is characterized by creating a strong connection with nature. This temple, however, was not built in the classical period of ancient Greece, but in the Hellenistic period, that is, in the time of Alexander the Great, around 330 BC . And the architecture of this period is characterized by creating an artificial atmosphere. , there is no longer as much dialogue between architecture and nature as in the classical period. So the enormous walls of the naos surround you and disconnect you from the outside, and sacred olive trees and a fountain were placed, making this space a world within a world and isolating you from nature. In case of flooding, there is a small opening in the left corner of the back wall to drain water. At the eastern end of the naos, a majestic staircase of twenty-four steps leads to the antechamber through three portals flanked by Corinthian columns attached to the wall. This curious arrangement must have been connected with the oracular purpose of the sanctuary. Therefore this space was probably where the priests (known as Βραγχίδες) used to interpret the oracles of the gods. On each side of the antechamber there are stairs, now in ruins, but they lead to where the walls are preserved; Their purpose is unknown, but they reflect some influence from Egyptian temples. The temple stands on a stylobate with seven steps, and at the main entrance, there is a section with a staircase of thirteen steps. This temple, like the Parthenon in Athens, incorporates optical corrections to trick our eyes, with a slight curvature in its elements that makes it look more horizontal instead of arching down in the center. On the walls, and especially on the stylobate, there are many old graffiti. The southern steps of the temple were used as seats for spectators at games held in a stadium that no longer exists, and people marked their seats by carving their names on them, as here: Hγημαναρου, the seat of Hγημαναρος, and Λάμπρου, the seat of Λάμπρος. There are even construction plans carved into the walls and pavement of this temple. Each part of this temple has extraordinary carvings, the architrave presents motifs of plants and lions, the cornices and bases have bas-reliefs, and even the capitals of the corner columns had sculpted heads of gods and animals, replacing the characteristic volutes of the Ionic order. Originally, a series of Medusa heads would have appeared on the frieze above the architrave; Images of monsters, such as Medusa, served to protect temples from damage caused by Apollo's enemies. Since the temple is in ruins, many of these elements can be seen scattered around the building. The remains of a large circular altar can be seen in front of the main façade. Its sculpted reliefs probably matched the quality of the temple. Each ancient Greek sanctuary had a sacred path along which a procession passed in ceremonies. The sacred road at Didyma measured 5 meters wide and connected the temple of Apollo with the port city of Miletus, located 18 km to the north. The ritualization of public space signaled the link between religion and politics in ancient Greek cities. Every year, the inhabitants of Miletus held a New Year's procession to the sanctuary of Apollo, where they held a festival with games and musical competitions. Every four years, other Greek cities were invited to join the procession and the subsequent festival called Didymeia. In addition to the temple, there were several other buildings in this sanctuary, such as stoas, baths and even a theater. However, since most of these lie beneath the modern city of Didim, not much excavation has been done. The construction of the temple took place with periods of inactivity during the 3rd century BC. Some of the structures date back to the Roman period around 130 AD, but the temple was so large that it was never fully completed. The main body of the building was completed, but only 72 of the planned 122 columns were erected , and some are missing their final decorative elements. For example, of the three columns that stand at their full height, one lacks its flutes. The roof and pediments were not completed before Theodosius, the emperor who converted the Roman Empire to Christianity, closed the temple and put an end to the oracle, causing construction of the temple to come to a halt. In the Middle Ages, a Byzantine church was built inside the naos of the temple of Apollo. The last remains of this church were demolished in 1925 to gain a better understanding of the original Hellenistic temple, however, old photographs of the remains of the Byzantine church can still be seen. The Temple of Apollo at Didyma is a colossal masterpiece of ancient Greek architecture. The monumental scale of its columns and its interior leave an indelible impression, highlighting the greatness and ambition of its builders. Its precious details allow us to go back in time, and discover an unusual area of the grandeur of the ancient world. It's very difficult to show on camera how enormous this building was, how enormous this building is, its dimensions, but being here you really understand why this was considered a wonder in the ancient world, and the temple of Artemis, which was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world It was even a little bigger than this temple, so it really is very impressive. It's amazing to see what you see here. Visiting the temple of Apollo in Didyma was an impressive experience, I hope you enjoyed it. Please like this video and subscribe to my channel so I can continue producing these videos because it takes months to make them. If you are interested in ancient Greece, I have a playlist on my channel with videos of Greek architecture and ancient Greek cities, so I recommend you go see them. Thank you very much for staying until the end and we'll see you very soon in the next episode. Bye bye!
