This article is about the town of Side on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. For the town of ancient Caria, see Side (Caria). For the town of ancient Pontus, see Side (Pontus).
Side (formerly Selimiye) is a city on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It includes the modern resort town and the ruins of the ancient city of Side, one of the best-known classical sites in the country. Modern Side is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Manavgat, Antalya Province, Turkey.[1] Its population is 14,527 (2022).[2] Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (belde).[3][4] It lies near Manavgat, 78km from Antalya.[5]
It is located on the eastern part of the Pamphylian coast, which lies about 20km east of the mouth of the Eurymedon River. Today, as in antiquity, the ancient city is situated on a small north-south peninsula about 1km long and 400 m across.
History
Pseudo-Scylax,[6]Strabo and Arrian[7] record that Side was founded by Greek settlers from Cyme in Aeolis, a region of western Anatolia. This most likely occurred in the 7th century BC. A basalt column base from the 7th century BC found in the excavations and attributable to the Neo-Hittites is evidence of the site's early history.
Possessing a good harbour for small craft, Side's natural geography made it one of the most important trade centres in the region.
Excavations have revealed several inscriptions written in the language of Side. The inscriptions, dating from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, remain undeciphered, but testify that the local language was still in use several centuries after colonisation.
Macedonian Rule
Vespasian GateThe ancient theatre
Alexander the Great occupied Side without a struggle in 333 BC. Alexander left only a single garrison behind to occupy the city. This occupation, in turn, introduced the people of Side to Hellenistic culture, which flourished from the 4th to the 1st century BC. After Alexander's death, Side fell under the control of one of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself king of Egypt in 305 BC. The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Side until it was captured by the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC. Yet, despite these occupations, Side managed to preserve some autonomy, grew prosperous, and became an important cultural centre.
In 190 BC a fleet from the Greek island city-state of Rhodes, supported by Rome and Pergamum, defeated the Seleucid King Antiochus the Great's fleet, which was under the command of the fugitive Carthaginian general Hannibal. The defeat of Hannibal and Antiochus the Great meant that Side freed itself from the overlord-ship of the Seleucid Empire.
The Treaty of Apamea (188 BC) forced Antiochus to abandon all European territories and to cede all of Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains to Pergamum. However, the dominion of Pergamum only reached de facto as far as Perga, leaving Eastern Pamphylia in a state of uncertain freedom. This led Attalus II Philadelphus to construct a new harbour in the city of Attalia (the present Antalya), although Side already possessed an important harbour of its own. Between 188 and 36 BC Side minted its own money, tetradrachms showing Nike and a laurel wreath (the sign of victory).
In the 1st century BC, Side reached a peak when the Cilician pirates established their chief naval base and a centre for their slave-trade.
Romans
The main street is lined with the ruins of homes or shops, many of which feature their original mosaic flooringHospital dating to the 6th century.
The consul Servilius Vatia defeated these brigands in 78 BC and later the Roman general Pompey in 67 BC, bringing Side under the control of Rome and beginning its second period of ascendancy, when it established and maintained a good working relationship with the Roman Empire.[8]
Emperor Augustus reformed the state administration and placed Pamphylia and Side in the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC, after the short reign of Amyntas of Galatia between 36 and 25 BC. Side began another prosperous period as a commercial centre in Asia Minor through its trade in olive oil. Its population grew to 60,000 inhabitants. This period would last well into the 3rd century AD. Side also established itself as a slave-trading centre in the Mediterranean. Its large commercial fleet engaged in acts of piracy, while wealthy merchants paid for such tributes as public works, monuments, and competitions as well as the games and gladiator fights. Most of the extant ruins at Side date from this period of prosperity.
Side began a steady decline from the 4th century on. Even defensive walls could not stop successive invasions of highlanders from the Taurus Mountains. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Side experienced a revival, and became the seat of the Bishopric of Eastern Pamphylia. Arab fleets, nevertheless, raided and burned Side during the 7th century, contributing to its decline. The combination of earthquakes, Christian zealots and Arab raids, left the site abandoned by the 10th century, its citizens having emigrated to nearby Attalia.[8]
In the 12th century, Side temporarily established itself once more as a large city. An inscription found on the site of the former ancient city shows a considerable Jewish population in early Byzantine times. However, Side was abandoned again after being sacked. Its population moved to Attalia, and Side became known as Eski Adalia 'Old Antalya' and was buried.
Ecclesiastical history
As capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Prima, Side was ecclesiastically the metropolitan see. The earliest known bishop was Epidaurus, presiding at the Synod of Ancyra, 314. Others are John, fourth century; Eustathius, 381; Amphilochius, 426-458, who played an important part in the history of the time; Conon, 536; Peter, 553; John, 680-692; Mark, 879; Theodore, 1027-1028; Anthimus, present at the synod held at Constantinople in 1054; John, then counsellor to the Emperor Michael VII Ducas, presided at a council on the worship of images, 1082; Theodosius and his successor Nicetas, twelfth century. John, present at a synod at Constantinople in 1156. The Notitiae Episcopatuum continued to mention Side as a metropolis of Pamphylia until the thirteenth century. It does not appear in the "Notitia" of Andronicus III. In 1397 the diocese was united with that of Attalia; in 1400 the Metropolitan of Perge and Attalia was at the same time the administrator of Side.[10][citation needed]
The great ruins are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory which a wall and a moat separate from the mainland. Archaeologists have been excavating Side since 1947 and intermittently continue to do so.[12]
The colossal theatre complex of the 2nd century is less well-preserved that of Aspendos, but it is almost as large, seating 15,000–20,000 people. It was converted into an open-air sanctuary with two chapels during Byzantine times (5th or 6th century).
The well-preserved city walls provide an entrance to the site through the Hellenistic main gate (Megale Pyle) from the 2nd century BC.
The colonnaded street had marble columns whose remains can be seen near the Roman baths, restored as a museum displaying statues and sarcophagi from the Roman period. The agora includes the remains of the round Tyche and Fortuna temple (2nd century BC), peripteral with twelve columns, in the centre. In later times it was used as a trading centre where pirates sold slaves.
The early Roman Temple of Dionysus is near the theatre. The fountain gracing the entrance is restored. At the left side is a Byzantine Basilica.[8]
Other buildings include three temples and a nymphaeum, a grotto or fountain building of elaborate design, and a synagogue which was discovered under a modern place of residence.[13]
Excavation teams also found an ancient Greek brothel.[14]
The aqueduct
Aqueduct near SideAqueduct bridge near Oymapinar
The Roman aqueduct dates from 2nd half of the 2nd century AD and is 30 km in length. The aqueduct is special because it has an exceptional number of bridges which are still preserved as well as tunnels. This was because the altitude difference between source and city is only 36 m, so to make the gradient as high as possible it was necessary to keep the route as straight and short as possible through the hilly terrain, which entailed more expensive bridges (22 in total) and 16 tunnels 100-2260m long.
It was restored in the first half of the 3rd century, financed by Lollianos Bryonianos from Side according to an inscription.
The central square of Side with the statue of Atatürk
In 1895, Turkish Muslim Immigrants from Crete moved to the area of the ruins and called it Selimiye; they also built houses over the ruins when the Cretan Turks moved there.[15][16][17] Today, Side has become a popular holiday destination as a result of the expansion of the Antalya coastal project and is experiencing a revival.
Lycia was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğla in Turkey as well some inland parts of Burdur Province. The region was known to history from the Late Bronze Age records of ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire.
Perga or Perge was originally an ancient Lycian settlement that later became a Greek city in Pamphylia. It was the capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda, now located in Antalya Province on the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Today its ruins lie 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Antalya.
Pamphylia was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus. It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 120 km with a breadth of about 50 km. Under the Roman administration the term Pamphylia was extended so as to include Pisidia and the whole tract up to the frontiers of Phrygia and Lycaonia, and in this wider sense it is employed by Ptolemy.
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Taurus Mountains. With over 2.6 million people in its metropolitan area, it is the largest city in Turkey's Mediterranean Region, situated along the Mediterranean Sea.
The Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamene Kingdom, or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty.
Patara was an ancient and flourishing maritime and commercial city that was for a period the capital of Lycia. The site is located on the Turkish coast near to the village of Gelemiş, in Antalya Province.
Antalya Province is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is 20,177 km2, and its population is 2,688,004 (2022).
Pisidia was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's settlements were Antioch in Pisidia, Termessos, Cremna, Sagalassos, Etenna, Neapolis, Selge, Tyriacum, Laodiceia Katakekaumene, Adada (Pisidia) and Philomelium.
Phaselis or Faselis was a Greek and Roman city on the coast of ancient Lycia. Its ruins are located north of the modern town Tekirova in the Kemer district of Antalya Province in Turkey. It lies between the Bey Mountains and the forests of Olympos National Park, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of the tourist town of Kemer and on the 57th kilometre of the Antalya–Kumluca highway. Phaselis and other ancient towns around the shore can also be accessed from the sea by daily yacht tours.
Euromus or Euromos – also, Europus or Europos (Εὐρωπός), Eunomus or Eunomos (Εὔνωμος), Philippi or Philippoi (Φίλιπποι); earlier Kyromus and Hyromus – was an ancient city in Caria, Anatolia; the ruins are approximately 4 km southeast of Selimiye and 12 km northwest of Milas, Muğla Province, Turkey. It was situated at the foot of Mount Grium, which runs parallel to Mount Latmus, and was built by one Euromus, a son of Idris, a Carian.
The Turkish Riviera, also known popularly as the Turquoise Coast, is an area of southwest Turkey encompassing the provinces of Antalya and Muğla, and to a lesser extent Aydın, southern İzmir and western Mersin. The combination of a favorable climate, warm sea, mountainous scenery, fine beaches along more than a 1,000 km (620 mi) of shoreline along the Mediterranean and Aegean waters, and abundant natural and archaeological points of interest makes this stretch of Turkey's coastline a popular national and international tourist destination.
Termessos, also known as Termessos Major, was a Pisidian city built at an altitude of about 1000 metres at the south-west side of Solymos Mountain in the Taurus Mountains. It lies 17 kilometres to the north-west of Antalya. It lies on a natural platform on the slopes of Güllük Dağı, which itself rises to 1,665 metres.
Ariassus or Ariassos was a town in Pisidia, Asia Minor built on a steep hillside about 50 kilometres inland from Attaleia.
Pednelissus or Petnelissus was a city on the border between Pamphylia and Pisidia in Asia Minor.
Sidyma, was a town of ancient Lycia, at what is now the small village of Dudurga Asari in Muğla Province, Turkey. It lies on the southern slope of Mount Cragus, to the north-west of the mouth of the Xanthus.
The Galatian War was a war fought in 189BC between the Galatian Gauls and the Roman Republic, supported by their ally Pergamum. The war was fought in Galatia in central Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey. The Romans had just defeated the Seleucids in the Roman–Seleucid War and were in the midst of concluding a treaty with the latter.
Sillyon, Stephanus of Byzantium called it Σύλειον, Σύλαιον, Σύλλον and Σίλονον in Byzantine times Syllaeum or Syllaion (Συλλαῖον), was an important fortress and city near Attaleia in Pamphylia, on the southern coast of modern Turkey. The native Greco-Pamphylian form was Selywiys, possibly deriving from the original Hittite Sallawassi. Its modern Turkish names are Yanköy Hisarı or Asar Köy.
Rhodiapolis, also known as Rhodia (Ῥοδία) and Rhodiopolis (Ῥοδιόπολις), was a city in ancient Lycia. Today it is located on a hill northwest of the modern town Kumluca in Antalya Province, Turkey.
Trebenna (Τρεβέννα) or Trabenna (Τραβέννα) was a city in ancient Lycia, at the border with Pamphylia, and at times ascribed to that latter region. Its ruins are located east of the modern town Çağlarca in the Konyaaltı district of Antalya Province, Turkey. The site lies 22 km to the west of Antalya.
Etenna was a city in the late Roman province of Pamphylia Prima. Centuries earlier, it was reckoned as belonging to Pisidia, as by Polybius, who wrote that in 218 BC the people of Etenna "who live in the highlands of Pisidia above Side" provided 8000 hoplites to assist the Seleucid usurper Achaeus.
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