Beautiful ruins in Side
Side (pronounced See-deh) is an ancient maritime city of Pamphylia, located 16 km from Seleucia. Its location is on the southern coast near the villages of Manavgat and Selimiye, 75 km from Antalya in the province of Antalya in Turkey. It is located on the eastern part of the Pamphylian coast, which lies about 20 km east of the mouth of the Eurymedon River.
The great ruins are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory where a wall and a mote separate it from the mainland. During medieval times, the wall and mote were repaired and the promontory houses a wealth of structures. There are colossal ruins of a theater complex built much like a Roman amphitheater that relies on arches to support the sheer verticals. The Roman style was adopted because Side lacked a convenient hillside that could be hollowed out as in the usual Greek fashion more typical of Asia Minor.
The well preserved city walls provide an entrance to the site through the main gate of the ancient city, although gate is badly damaged. Next comes the colonnaded street although the marble columns once there do not exist anymore. All that remains is a few broken stubs near the old Roman baths. The street leads to the a public bath restored as a museum displaying Roman period statues and sarcophagi. Next is the agora where pirates sold slaves. The current remains of the theatre, which was used as gladiator fights and later as a church, and the monumental gate date back to the 2nd Century.
The remaining ruins of Side include three temples, an aqueduct, and a nymphaeum. Side's nymphaeum ��" a grotto with a natural water supply dedicated to the nymphs ��" was an artificial grotto or fountain building of elaborate design.
Turkish archaeologists have been excavating Side since 1947 and intermittently continue to do so.
