Altinkum is a busy resort which has been receptive to the demands of the British holiday-maker. This resort has grown directly behind the beach and Altinkum refers to the beach area, Didim is the name of the actual town. Most of the locals working here speak English and the centre of the resort is full of restaurants and bars to satisfy the British palate.

The main beach in Altinkum (often referred to as First Beach) is a large bay of golden sand with incredibly shallow waters and therefore it is very popular. There are a couple of other sandy bays, the one to the left-hand side is broken by a headland but can be accessed by the beachfront promenade. Watersports are plentiful here so there is always something to watch or participate in. Altinkum receives a high number of repeat guests as well as being a sought after destination by Turkish holidaymakers. Dolphin Square no longer exists but the Tea Garden still remains and is a great place to sit whilst familiarising yourself with the resort and watching the world go by. Supermarket chains such as Migros, Tansas and Gima are located along the main Didyma to Altinkum road making it easy to self-cater and buy provisions.

The Saturday Bazaar is also at the top end of the town plus the old town of Didim and the ruins of Branchidai at Didyma, the site of an ancient temple which has been excavated since 1873, with wonderfully preserved inscriptions including the head of Medusa. Altinkum has developed into a lively destination with plenty to do night and day which is why we have chosen accommodation to suit all tastes, both close to the centre and a little further back. The sights of Ephesus, Pamukkale, and Bodrum are additional attractions easily accessible from Altinkum and shouldn’t be missed.

History

In antiquity a Sacred Way connected Miletus to the port of Didyma and its famous temple. The last stretch of road was flanked by statues of sphinxes and reclining lions, now to be seen in the British Museum in London, This important street dating back at least to the 6th century B.C. confirms the hypothesis of the existence here of a small archaic temple, far earlier than the foundation of the colossal place of worship dedicated to Apollo. Traces of this original building have in fact been identified inside the large temple.

Evidence of the popularity of the sanctuary goes back to the archaic period, in particular from the 6th century B.C. on, when mention is made of gifts offered by the powerful and by kings, comparable to those offered to the famous oracle of Delphi. In line with what Pausanias affirms, it is highly likely that at Didyma, as in many other centers of Asia Minor, the Greeks replaced all forms of local cult with their own forms of worship. It seems to have been ascertained that the sacred place dedicated to Apollo existed before the first Ionic colonies settled here. Even the statue of Apollo capturing a stag found in the temple can be related to religious motifs of obvious Hittite and Anatolian extraction. Further evidence that a cult of Apollo existed prior to Greek colonization is to be found in Homer's Iliad.

The history of archaeology regarding this temple is relatively recent, and dates back only to the 1960s. Excavations undertaken by German archaeologists led first to the identification of the foundations of a perimetral wall of the sanctuary, thought to have been built in the 8th or 7th century B.C.The subsequent discovery of a colonnade dating to the end of the 7th century B.C. leads to the supposition that the original nucleus was at the time enlarged. The first temple was burned by the Persians at the beginning of the 5th century B.C., but when Alexander the Great conquered the Anatolian regions, a much larger and more scenic place of worship was built on the same site. The Temple of Apollo Didyma is one of the largest of the Hellenistic classical period, preceded solely by the Artemision of Ephesus and the Temple of Hera in Samos. Still today an idea of the ancient splendor of the building with its impressive number of Ionic columns still transpires from these imposing magnificent ruins. Even though work on the temple complex continued from the 3rd century B.C. up to Roman times, it was never finished. The shrine itself was surrounded by a portico with two rows of columns. Some of these architectural Clements have withstood the ravages of time and the earthquakes and still stand in their solemn beauty, often complete with capitals and architraves. The shrine where prophecies were revealed in the name of Apollo was faced in marble brought from the Aegean islands. Of particular note among the numerous decorations found in the temple are various busts of divinities such as Apollo, Jupiter, Artemis and Latona, as well as capitals ornamented with heads of griffins and bulls, which, together with a head of Medusa that was part of a frieze on an architrave, are examples of 2nd century A.D. sculpture.

Not far from the temple, a Stadium surrounded by seven rows of seats has been identified. Apparently this installation was used for the sacred competitions, which accompanied the religious rites held in the temple. Some of the tiers of seats are incised with names that belong to the late Hellenistic period.

The Climate in Altinkum & Kusadasi

The table below shows the historic average maximum and minimum temperatures for Altinkum & Kusadasi