Ancient city of Side

sight | 2022-09-23

I get into the car and drive to the nearby city of Side. To go to the old town is possible only by taxi or special transport. A kilometer before the old town, there is a large parking lot where I leave my car.

For some reason it reminds me of Egypt..
Excellent column fragments

As soon as you leave the parking lot, you see the first ruins. The abundance of them is surprising, before coming here I thought it was a small archaeological monument, but it turns out to be a whole city, with streets, buildings and thousands of columns. The ruins cover a considerable area of 1x.05 km.

Hundreds of columns lie on the ground
Many fragments with ornaments
Ornaments

In the open museum there are many fragments of columns, preserved wall decorations and ornaments.

It is interesting that the ends of the columns are not integral to the column itself.
Similar to the main street of the old town
Remains of buildings and walls
The city is located on the seashore, on a peninsula.

After walking through the ruins of the old city, we visit the amphitheater. Admission is not free, but curiosity wins. Currently, the ancient amphitheater hosts concerts, operas, and plays. But tonight it’s quiet, just a few tourists. From the upper rows of the theater, you can see the surrounding mountains as well as the ruins of the ancient city.

The theater is in ruins from the outside
The edges of the stairs are decorated with sculptures
It is quite steep, so the spectators in the lower rows are not in the way
Nowadays, operas and plays are held here
Remains of the Temple of Apollo
A few more surviving columns in the city center

The columns that have stood for 29 centuries will continue to stand, and I’m moving to Uyluk Tepe