One of the best things about Side is the way that the ancient ruins overlap and intertwine with the modern city. The theater, the museum, and the Temples of Apollo and Athena are all within easy walking distance of each other. The bazaar is extremely busy; as a melting pot for many different nationalities and languages, it generates an atmosphere that some find endearing and others find offputting.
The site of a famous love affair…
Some sources say that Side originally meant “pomegranate”, and the pomegranate is the symbol of abundance and wealth. The city experianced its period of greatest prosperity in Roman times when it was a flourishing trade center with a large slave market. Some sources also suggest that it served as a lovenest for Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
As you walk towards the bazaar from the bus station you will pass a beautiful, newly excavated Roman fountain and then the remains of a colonnaded street once lined with ancient shops. The theater, which has a seating capacity of 15,000, is still used today. Side Museum is housed in what was once the old Roman bath-house; it has a delightful back garden full of stone sarcophagi. The Temples of Apollo and Athena overlooking the sea were built in the 2nd century AD. Few things could be nicer than sipping an evening drink at once of the cafes beside the temples. Protected by its land and sea walls, the ancient city of Side survived the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Unfortunately, the aesthetic beauty of the ancient buildings has not found echoes in many of the structures thrown up in recent years.
Side’s historic sites are some walk from the bazaar in the heat, but the Municipality provides a Disneyesque tractor and trailer to get people from place to place in summer.
More local tourists
Traditionally, Side has been favored by the Germans and the Dutch, but ever since the five-star resorts lowered their prices for dometic tourists, the town has seen an increase in turkish visitors.
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