Didim
Encyclopedia
Didim, home of the antique city of Didyma
with its ruined Temple of Apollo, is a small town, popular seaside holiday resort and district of Aydın Province
on the Aegean
coast of western Turkey
, 123 km (76 mi) from the city of Aydın
.
opposite the Bodrum
peninsula villages such as Torba
, Türkbükü
and Yalıkavak
. The district consists of Didim itself, a coastal town of 26,000 people and a number of small towns including Altınkum
(which means golden sand), Gümüşkum (silver sand) and Sarıkum (yellow sand).
Tourism is the main source of income for the area, especially in summer, but agriculture is also an important contributor, the main crops are wheat and cotton. Animals, especially sheep and goats, are raised mainly for local consumption.
Mavişehir - West
Mersindere - West
Cumhuriyet - Central
Efeler - Central
Yenimahalle - Central
Çamlık - South - 3'rd beach, main beach and D-Marin Didim (new marina)
Altınkum
- South - main beach and 2'nd beach
Fevzipaşa - south - where the new Golf Course is planned
Yeşilkent - South/East
for a full account of this ancient city. The area was settled in the neolithic
period, established as colony of Crete
and then Mycenae
in the 16th century BC and subsequently possessed by Lycians
, Persians, Seleucids, Attalids, Ancient Romans, and Byzantines
as part of the province of Caria
. The area came into the hands of Turks
following the defeat of Byzantium at the Battle of Malazgirt in 1086. The town was captured again by the Byzantines
in 1098, by Menteşe in 1280, then Aydinids in 1300. Didim was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Mehmet I in 1413.
, sited close to the town. During the Ottoman Empire
the town was known as Yoranda or Yoran and under the Turkish Republic was called Hisar (meaning castle) and following its destruction in an earthquake in 1955 was rebuilt and renamed Yenihisar (new castle). The town was part of Söke
district until 1991. The area became the district of Yenihisar and was later given the ancient name Didim to distinguish it from other places in Turkey called Yenihisar in 1997.
and is genuinely attractive with its long sandy beaches, clear blue sea, ancient ruins to visit, and its own microclimate, benefitting from hundreds of days of sun a year and warm winters, allowing residents to enjoy the famous beaches and watersports even in January. Perhaps the most attractive bays are the smaller quieter ones further from the centre, such as Haydar, along a dirt road around the shore of Akbük
(white bay).
Recent renewal of main roads means the area is easily served by Bodrum
and İzmir
airports.
As Didim is so well-situated in the 1980s people from large cities around Turkey, especially Ankara
, began to buy holiday homes, apartments, and villas in the area. Most of these were built as cooperative housing projects with private beaches. The attraction of the area is proved by the number of Ankara families that have now been going to Didim for two or more generations, and even today you will see many cars with Ankara (06) numberplates in Didim in summertime. Property values are now rising dramatically and the building boom continues as foreign buyers, especially the families of Turks living and working in Europe, follow their lead. The growth of Didim in the 1980s was enhanced with the building of hotels to accommodate visitors, originally from Britain but now from Turkey itself, on cheap package holiday
s. Since about 2001 British people have begun to buy holiday homes in Didim, establishing themselves as a visible community of many thousands, to the extent that utility bills in the district are now printed in English as well as Turkish. You will see the Union Jack and other British flags all around Didim, especially in the bars.
Didim town has hotels, a weekly market, a waterpark and the antique temple of Apollo nearby. Didim is also close to a number of other ancient towns and natural wonders: Lake Bafa
national park is nearby, along with the Büyük Menderes River and historic sites such as Miletus
and Priene
.
In the evenings, visitors try to find somewhere quiet to sit by the sea and look at the lights of other towns across the water. For those of a more energetic nature, Didim has a number of discothèques, smaller bars and clubs, some with live music, mostly Türkü
(Turkish folk music). However, Didim is mostly a quiet, family resort with a great coastline, and visitors looking for nightlife would be better off in Bodrum
. Summers in Didim can involve sitting on the balcony drinking rakı
, playing volleyball, sitting on the beach, or wandering along the seafront while eating sunflower seeds or Pistachio
. The local station, Didim TV, is an amateur project by a television repair shop owner and neighbourhood councillor (muhtar), and is mostly advertisements for local shops and hotels.
The new fifty million dollar Didim Marina (D-Marin Didim) was constructed by Doğuş Group and became operational in 2009 with berths for 8m to 50m boats, 400-ton boat lift, dry docks, hangars, maintenance yard, yacht club, shopping mall, restaurants and visitor facilities. The new marina is expected to encourage further tourism and rising property prices in the area.
consisting of very hot, long and dry summers with an average of 34°C (93°F) in the daytime, winters are cool and rainy with a daytime average of 14°C (57°F).
with:
Atlanta, GA, USA
Chittagong
, Bangladesh
Kano
, Nigeria
Gibraltar
Bryansk
, Russia
Nordkapp
, Norway
Sarh
, Chad
Chegga
, Mauritania
Bata
, Equatorial guinea
Bo
, Sierra Leone
Didyma
Didyma was an ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means "twin", but the Greeks who sought a "twin" at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name...
with its ruined Temple of Apollo, is a small town, popular seaside holiday resort and district of Aydın Province
Aydin Province
Aydın Province is a province of southwestern Turkey, located in the Aegean Region. The provincial capital is the city of Aydın which has a population of approx. 150,000 . Other towns in the province include the summer seaside resorts of Didim and Kuşadası.-History:Aydın was founded by the ancient...
on the Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
coast of western Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, 123 km (76 mi) from the city of Aydın
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
.
Geography
Didim is located on the north shore of the gulf of GüllükGüllük
Güllük, is a small harbor town with own municipality within the district of Milas, situated north of Bodrum in Muğla Province of Turkey. It is a small Turkish town and growing holiday destination, with the town being pleasantly developed with a range of tourist amenities. The Town centre is...
opposite the Bodrum
Bodrum
Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
peninsula villages such as Torba
Torba
Torba as a place may refer to:*Torba, Turkey*Torba Province, Vanuatu*Torba, a village in Măgherani Commune, Mureş County, Romania*Tarbha, Orissa, IndiaTorba may also refer to:...
, Türkbükü
Türkbükü
Türkbükü is a coastal town in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey, located on the Turkish Riviera on the opposite side of the Bodrum peninsula from the town of Bodrum. Türkbükü has a well protected harbor ringed with high hills containing a number of luxury hotels and holiday villas...
and Yalıkavak
Yalikavak
Yalıkavak is a town near Bodrum in Muğla province, on the Aegean coast of Turkey. It is 18 km from Bodrum and located at the north eastern tip of the Bodrum peninsula...
. The district consists of Didim itself, a coastal town of 26,000 people and a number of small towns including Altınkum
Altinkum
Altınkum is a rapidly growing resort in western Turkey, 123 km from the town Aydın.The resort is a popular tourist destination at the Aegean Sea, and in addition to many beautiful...
(which means golden sand), Gümüşkum (silver sand) and Sarıkum (yellow sand).
Tourism is the main source of income for the area, especially in summer, but agriculture is also an important contributor, the main crops are wheat and cotton. Animals, especially sheep and goats, are raised mainly for local consumption.
Didim is divided into the following areas;
Yalıköy - WestMavişehir - West
Mersindere - West
Cumhuriyet - Central
Efeler - Central
Yenimahalle - Central
Çamlık - South - 3'rd beach, main beach and D-Marin Didim (new marina)
Altınkum
Altinkum
Altınkum is a rapidly growing resort in western Turkey, 123 km from the town Aydın.The resort is a popular tourist destination at the Aegean Sea, and in addition to many beautiful...
- South - main beach and 2'nd beach
Fevzipaşa - south - where the new Golf Course is planned
Yeşilkent - South/East
History
See DidymaDidyma
Didyma was an ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means "twin", but the Greeks who sought a "twin" at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name...
for a full account of this ancient city. The area was settled in the neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period, established as colony of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and then Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
in the 16th century BC and subsequently possessed by Lycians
Lycians
-Historical accounts:According to Herodotus, the Lycians originally came from Crete and were the followers of Sarpedon. They were expelled by Minos and ultimately settled in territories belonging to the Solymoi of Milyas in Asia Minor. The Lycians were originally known as Termilae before being...
, Persians, Seleucids, Attalids, Ancient Romans, and Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
as part of the province of Caria
Caria
Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
. The area came into the hands of Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
following the defeat of Byzantium at the Battle of Malazgirt in 1086. The town was captured again by the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
in 1098, by Menteşe in 1280, then Aydinids in 1300. Didim was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Mehmet I in 1413.
Etymology
Didim takes its name from ancient DidymaDidyma
Didyma was an ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means "twin", but the Greeks who sought a "twin" at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name...
, sited close to the town. During the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
the town was known as Yoranda or Yoran and under the Turkish Republic was called Hisar (meaning castle) and following its destruction in an earthquake in 1955 was rebuilt and renamed Yenihisar (new castle). The town was part of Söke
Söke
Söke is a town and a large district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of western Turkey, south-west of the city of Aydın, near the Aegean coast. It had 68,020 population in 2010.- Geography :...
district until 1991. The area became the district of Yenihisar and was later given the ancient name Didim to distinguish it from other places in Turkey called Yenihisar in 1997.
Tourism
This coast has become a very popular holiday resortResort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
and is genuinely attractive with its long sandy beaches, clear blue sea, ancient ruins to visit, and its own microclimate, benefitting from hundreds of days of sun a year and warm winters, allowing residents to enjoy the famous beaches and watersports even in January. Perhaps the most attractive bays are the smaller quieter ones further from the centre, such as Haydar, along a dirt road around the shore of Akbük
Akbük, Didim
Akbük is a small holiday resort on a bay in the Aegean Region near Didim and with a permanent population of 4,000 and a summer population of 50,000. It was bounded to Milas district in Muğla Province before inclusion to Yenihisar one in Aydın Province in 1991. It has a municipality since 1991....
(white bay).
Recent renewal of main roads means the area is easily served by Bodrum
Milas-Bodrum Airport
Milas-Bodrum Airport is an international airport that serves the Turkish towns of Bodrum and Milas. The airport is situated 36km northeast of the town of Bodrum, and 16km south of Milas. A spacious new international terminal was completed in 2000....
and İzmir
Adnan Menderes Airport
İzmir Adnan Menderes International Airport is an airport serving İzmir and is named after former Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes. It is located in the Gaziemir area of İzmir....
airports.
As Didim is so well-situated in the 1980s people from large cities around Turkey, especially Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, began to buy holiday homes, apartments, and villas in the area. Most of these were built as cooperative housing projects with private beaches. The attraction of the area is proved by the number of Ankara families that have now been going to Didim for two or more generations, and even today you will see many cars with Ankara (06) numberplates in Didim in summertime. Property values are now rising dramatically and the building boom continues as foreign buyers, especially the families of Turks living and working in Europe, follow their lead. The growth of Didim in the 1980s was enhanced with the building of hotels to accommodate visitors, originally from Britain but now from Turkey itself, on cheap package holiday
Package holiday
A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided like a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Transport can be via charter airline to a foreign country...
s. Since about 2001 British people have begun to buy holiday homes in Didim, establishing themselves as a visible community of many thousands, to the extent that utility bills in the district are now printed in English as well as Turkish. You will see the Union Jack and other British flags all around Didim, especially in the bars.
Didim town has hotels, a weekly market, a waterpark and the antique temple of Apollo nearby. Didim is also close to a number of other ancient towns and natural wonders: Lake Bafa
Lake Bafa
Lake Bafa or Lake Bafa Nature Park is a lake and a nature reserve situated in southwestern Turkey, part of it within the boundaries of Milas district of Muğla Province and the northern part within Aydın Province's Söke district...
national park is nearby, along with the Büyük Menderes River and historic sites such as Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
and Priene
Priene
Priene was an ancient Greek city of Ionia at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of the then course of the Maeander River, from today's Aydin, from today's Söke and from ancient Miletus...
.
In the evenings, visitors try to find somewhere quiet to sit by the sea and look at the lights of other towns across the water. For those of a more energetic nature, Didim has a number of discothèques, smaller bars and clubs, some with live music, mostly Türkü
Türkü
Türkü, literally "of the Turk", is a name given to Turkish folk songs as opposed to şarkı. In contemporary usage, the meanings of the words türkü and şarkı have shifted: Türkü refers to folk songs originated from music traditions within Turkey whereas şarkı refers to all other songs, including...
(Turkish folk music). However, Didim is mostly a quiet, family resort with a great coastline, and visitors looking for nightlife would be better off in Bodrum
Bodrum
Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
. Summers in Didim can involve sitting on the balcony drinking rakı
Raki
-Alcoholic beverages:*Rakı, an anise-flavored spirit popular in Turkey*Any anise-flavored drink.-Fictional characters:*Raki, a character in the manga/anime series Claymore*Raki, a character in the game Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica...
, playing volleyball, sitting on the beach, or wandering along the seafront while eating sunflower seeds or Pistachio
Pistachio
The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...
. The local station, Didim TV, is an amateur project by a television repair shop owner and neighbourhood councillor (muhtar), and is mostly advertisements for local shops and hotels.
The new fifty million dollar Didim Marina (D-Marin Didim) was constructed by Doğuş Group and became operational in 2009 with berths for 8m to 50m boats, 400-ton boat lift, dry docks, hangars, maintenance yard, yacht club, shopping mall, restaurants and visitor facilities. The new marina is expected to encourage further tourism and rising property prices in the area.
Places of interest
- The ruins of the IonicIonic orderThe Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
Temple of ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
with its columns pointing up into the sky and its legend of the romance between Apollo and Daphne is nearby. The original temple and home of an oracleOracleIn Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
was destroyed during the Persian Wars and the one we see today was rebuilt following the victory over the Persians of Alexander the Great. - Miletos, the ruins of the ancient city including a well-preserved antique theatre, stadium, baths of Faustina, temple of Serapis and much more.
- Denizköy VLF transmitterDenizköy VLF transmitterDenizköy VLF transmitter is a facility of US Navy for military VLF transmissionnear Denizköy in Turkey at 37°24'43"N 27°19'25...
, a transmitter of the US military with 2 380 metres tall guyed masts.
Climate
Didim (Aydin) has a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
consisting of very hot, long and dry summers with an average of 34°C (93°F) in the daytime, winters are cool and rainy with a daytime average of 14°C (57°F).
Twin towns — Sister cities
Didim is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
Atlanta, GA, USA ChittagongChittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
KanoKano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
GibraltarGibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
BryanskBryansk
Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
NordkappNordkapp
Nordkapp is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Honningsvåg.Nordkapp was separated from Porsanger on 1 July 1861...
, Norway
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Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
SarhSarh
Sarh is the third largest city in Chad, after N'Djamena and Moundou. It is the capital of Moyen-Chari region and the department of Barh Köh. It lies 350 miles south-east of the capital Ndjamena on the Chari River...
, Chad
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CheggaChegga
Chegga is a small town in very northeastern part of Mauritania, close to the borders with Algeria and Mali. It has been a caravan stop for centuries. The only notable attraction in Chegga is a fort....
, Mauritania
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Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
BataBata, Equatorial Guinea
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, Equatorial guinea
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BoBo
-People:*Bo , name origin, plus people with the name*Bo , name origin, plus people with the surname**Bo , Chinese family names*Bo people , extinct minority population in Southern China famous for hanging coffins...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...