Voices columnist Glenn Maffia takes a historic walk down memory lane on the Sacred Road

THE ancient processional road from the Delphinion in Miletus to the Temple of Apollo at Didyma winds its way for 16.5 kilometres across the rough and hilly terrain along the southern edge of what once was Ionia.

The annual sojourn of Milesians along this road for the festival and celebrations at Didyma was an important and integral element in the cult of Apollo.

Amongst the god’s many attributes he was known as the protector of seafarers and ships, and for Miletus with its four harbours the ceremonies and dedications to Apollo would therefore have been of paramount importance.

As of writing the excellent news that the entire road will be opened to enable tourists, with a little more interest than just sun, sand and sea, to walk or cycle upon this historic route. Just imagine exactly in whose footsteps you may be walking!

The Didyma section of the road, residing upon the opposite side of today’s modern thoroughfare from the Temple, has been extensively excavated.

Monumental tombs, sarcophagi belonging to eminent personages and statues of the Branchid priestly caste and crouching lions lined the Sacred Way.

Many of the Branchid statues, excavated in 1858 by a British team of archaeologists, now have their resting place in the British Museum in London.

Some of these statues display a Hittite influence and have been dated to the 6th century BCE; therefore the Sacred Road was in effective usage during the archaic period.

What one sees today though, at least at the Didyma end, is the restoration sanctioned by the Roman Emperor, Trajan, in the years 100 and 101 CE. And a classic example of Roman engineering it remains to this very day.

The marble stone blocks which constitute the road are cambered allowing rain water to flow into gutters, and then in turn, into drains.

The curb stones are elaborately ornamented with flowing curved edges as they wind and twist their way to the Temple. “Still the best road in Didim”, is the commonly heard joke in town, “and it’s two thousand years old”!

As Roman roads were famously direct in an arrow flight’s straight direction, it is apparent that the old archaic path was adhered to.

Along this small section many walls of houses, shops and resting places abound, and little wonder considering the mass of people that ventured here during the time of the festival.

The whole place must have been a throng of people; hustling and bustling about, singing and dancing, excited about the forthcoming performances at the theatre, preparing for the contests within the stadium, and, no doubt speaking of political machinations and forming alliances.

These silent stones speak with such resonant eloquence, and an amble along just this small section will transport you through the pages of history and into a world so unlike our own.