What an incredible Roman city! I had a great visit here.
Wikipedia
The ancient city of Side /see-day/ on Turkey's southern (Mediterranean) coast is a well-known touristic site. It lies near the modern city of Manavgat, 78 km east of Antalya, which is a well-frequented holiday site on the coast. Many Europeans, and especially Germans, come here.
Side was settled by Greek colonists from Aeolia, (near Smyrna, now modern Izmir) in the 7th c. BC, according to the classical Greek geographer, Strabo (63 - 23 BC).
Side is so picturesque. What a terrific location for a holiday! Beaches, float-trips on a river, shopping, wandering through town. Many people come for the beaches and night-life (not my thing!). Or, if you're interested primarily in the history (like I am) there's a lot to explore that is left over from the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Wikipedia
(see video: https://vimeo.com/183093005).
The Dumanli Spring source is actually below water level of the reservoir that covers the valley today.
"At an elevation of 1,350 meters, the outflow of several small springs joins together to become the headwaters of theManavgat. The largest of these springs is called Dumanli, whose name means "place where there is fog", because of the dense mist that forms above the spring (most probably when its water temperature is cooler than the air temperature).
In addition to the springs from the Taurus Mountains, the Manavgat River is also fed underground from large lakes to the north of the mountains, on the Anatolian Plateau. (Wikipedia)
Here is more information about the river.
The Manavgat River empties into the Mediterranean on the right side of this picture. Side's peninsula is located on the left side.
A Roman road went up the same valley northward through the Taurus Mountains and across the plains to Iconium - Book of Acts - now modern-day Konya, another important Roman city.
https://turkisharchaeonews.net/object/aqueduct-and-nymphaion-side
The nymphaion - the site for the reception of water from an aqueduct - is located on the west end of the present excavations when you drive into the area. It's a combination of marble columns and stone blocks.
Side is built on a peninsula 1 km. long and roughly 400 meters wide. Above, beyond the amphitheater, which was built in the style of most Greek structures - on a hillside, notice the two harbors, the rectilinear street pattern from the Romans.
Walking through the city, itself, is not especially complicated because of it's rectilinear by nature, and a few structures - like bath buildings - remain standing and can be visited.
According to Arrian (Lucius Flavius Arrianus - Greek politician and historian,85–90 to 145/146), settlers who came to Side abandoned their native Greek language and began using the language of Side. The name "Side" originates from this language, and means "pomegranate." It can be found stamped on coins minted from roughly 500 BC to the Roman Imperial period. [Street vendors here sell glasses of freshly pressed pomegranate juice, by the way.]
Several non-Latin and non-Greek inscriptions dating from the 3rd - 2nd centuries BC found in the area remain undeciphered. A basaltic column base also found in the excavations from the 7th century BC are attributed to the Neo-Hittites.
Alexander the Great captured the city in 333 BC on his way to Persia, and the inhabitants put up no resistance. He left troops stationed there.
Side became an important city in the slave trade, beginning in the Roman period.
Below, an over-sized painting of how Side looked during the period of its greatest development as a Roman city. Note the elaborate aqueduct system - at the top and bottom - which was fed through springs in the Manavgat River. Aqueducts - like so many other Roman sites in the Western World and Middle East - were quarried for their stone, which was used at other building sites in the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire.
Be sure to scroll the picture below horizontally!
After the Roman senate established Asia as a province in 129 BE, Side was the most distant city from the provincial capital Pergamum, located on the west coast of Turkey near the Dardanelles. To link the cities, M. Aquillius built a road between them in 129-126 BCE. Below is a typical example of a Roman Road - this one located north of Tarsus, Turkey.
During the second to the first century BCE, Side became a haven for pirates who used its harbor as a dockyard and its slave markets to auction their prisoners, Side became rich under the Romans and was always a rival of Perga.
The city was burned by Arab raiders in the 7th AD century, within decades of the death of Mohammed (632 BC).
Today, Side is an attractive coastal city, combining antiquity, modern Turkish culture and shopping, beaches, hotels and real estate.
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As a resort town, Side is one of the best-known touristic centers on the south coast of Turkey.
It is well-preserved - similar to the theater at nearby Aspendos LINK.
According to Mark Wilson, a high wall was constructed on the floor level around the perimeter to protect spectators during gladiatorial and wild animal fights.
Above, a view straight north, toward the coastal mountains. Below, notice the variety of displaced, miscellaneous stones stacked in the front of the theater, near the stage area.
Above, steps and row-seats reflect high-quality stonework with quite attractive ornamental lions' claws, demonstrate the well-preserved nature of the theater. (I've seen these same lion claws in the amphitheater in Melitus (western coast of Turkey), by the way.) The horizontal lines below show prior wind-blown sediment which was cleaned-out.
Below, shots of the back side of the theater.
South side. Many stones were removed to use on building projects elsewhere.
The city was divided into four quarters in antiquity: Great Gate, Great Guild, Altar of Zeus, and Quadriga, based on inscriptions that refer to major monuments in each area.
As a resort town, Side is one of the best-known touristic centers on the south coast of Turkey.
Side's theater is the largest in southern Turkey, and was built on top of a Hellenistic structure from the 2nd century. It seated 17,000 people. The city lacked a sloped hillside that could be hollowed out in the usual Greek fashion, so large Roman-style self-supporting, arched walls were used, with 29 rows above and below the main horizontal level. It's a joy to visit this structure.
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Below, an artist's reconstruction (scanned from guidebook I purchased on-site) of what the theater stage structure probably looked like in its completed form.
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Above, advanced barrel vaults fit the archway and other walls of the portals together.
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https://www.propertyturkey.com/blog-turkey/6-reasons-we-love-side-turkey
The entire ancient city site measures about 112 acres, and dates from the 1-4 centuries AD. A visitor should plan to spend at least a day, including at least 1 hour in the historical museum, which I found delightful. Here's a worthwhile video. Click on it to enlarge it:
Side - Turkey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B7uTVhm1Y0
The city was divided into four quarters in antiquity: Great Gate, Great Guild, Altar of Zeus, and Quadriga, based on inscriptions that refer to major monuments in each area.
On your walking tour, you could follow a circuit that passes the outer gates, / nymphaeum, along the columned streets, to the theater and museum (agora bath).
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(Click here to navigate with the second post in this series: "Visit to Side #2 - Museum")
Click here to return the Table of Contents for this website.
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Excellent Guide that I used during my trips in Turkey: (available on Amazon - LINK )
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