Didim

Grand temple to Apollo, also known locally as Delphinius (as in the Delphic oracle), Philesios, Carinus and Didymeus. It was founded perhaps in the 8th century BC, but torched and looted by the Persians in 494 BC. It was rebuilt under Alexander the Great from 331 BC, looted again from 277 BC but prospered from large donations by rulers wanting the oracles to endorse whatever policy or war they'd decided on. There was only a small scrappy village here and you approached on foot along the 20 km Sacred Way from Miletus to the north. The temple declined once Christianity became the Roman religion, and was abandoned after an earthquake in 1493 AD. Around 1800 Greek settlers re-used its masonry to build a village, but the site was excavated and partly restored in the 20th century. Its signature image is of the Medusa, the Gorgon statue with her fractured head.

From the 8th century BC this grew into a large city-state, with over 90 colonies across the East Med and Black Sea. The city had spells of Persian rule from the 6th century BC but its heyday was under Alexander the Great from 331 BC. The Romans repaired the city walls but couldn't prevent the silting of the bay, until Miletus lost its harbour and importance, and now lies 10 km inland. The principal sights are the well-preserved amphitheatre, an Ionic stoa along one of its main streets, a Roman bathhouse, and a mosque built in 1403.

Priene lost its port even earlier than Miletus, when the River Maeander demonstrated its meandering and dumped mud over the inlet and harbour. The port may have relocated several times, with early versions lost beneath the sludge. The city on the ridge that you see today is from 350 BC, laid out on a grid pattern that the Romans adopted elsewhere. By 200 AD the new harbour was lost and the population drifted away to Miletus, which suffered the same fate a century later. The main sights are the amphitheatre, the baths, and the temple to Athena.