Side Ancient City

Side, located in the Manavgat District of Antalya province on a small peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean, is the only town in Turkey where a functioning modern community is built directly on and among the extensive ruins of an ancient Greco-Roman city. Settled from at least the 7th century BC, Side reached its greatest prosperity in the Roman Imperial period and became a major commercial center in the ancient world. Today the ancient colonnaded street forms the main road through the town, flanked by the remains of shop fronts, fountains, and public buildings. The monumental gate at the landward entrance to the peninsula gives way to the nymphaeum, agora, and the large 2nd-century theatre. At the seaward tip of the peninsula stand the Temple of Apollo and the Temple of Athena, two partially reconstructed coastal shrines that are among the most photographed ancient ruins in Turkey. The Temple of Apollo, with its re-erected columns and carved friezes visible against the setting Mediterranean sun, is particularly compelling in the evening when the light is warm and the surrounding sea turns gold. The Side Museum, housed in a Roman bath complex nearby, provides context for the sculptural finds from the city. Town beaches on both sides of the peninsula offer swimming immediately adjacent to the ruins. The combination of ancient monuments, a working harbor, seafood restaurants occupying ancient buildings, and active beaches gives Side an atmosphere unlike any other archaeological site.