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Published: February 25th 2013
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Heading eastwards along the D400 we decided to spend the day looking at Aspendos and Side, two of biggest tourist attractions in the Antalya region.
Woolly says – A chance to take to the stage???
Turning right off the main road, we followed the sign posts to Aspendos, pulling into the car park. Woolly didn’t look all together impressed.
Woolly says – It appeared to be a large wall with nothing else of course I was disappointed, not a stage in sight.
Paying 10TL each (approximately £4.10 GBP) we went through a dark covered archway and there in front of us…….
Woolly says – a HUGE stage area, I got very excited and started to warm up my vocal chords. To the rear of the stage the walls rose behind with alcoves where sculptures would have stood and in front of us where tier upon tier of seats rising higher and higher, how on earth would anyone hear me at the back???? Ian laughed and told me and Jo to climb to the top and see if we could hear him. Although not very steep each step was over a foot in height and it took
quite a few breathes to arrive at the highest seat the Amphitheatre had to offer, we waved at Ian who was only a small blob down below but then amazingly I heard him clearly say my name, he wasn’t shouting just speaking. The acoustics were amazing and I could imagine singers far below on the stage being able to include everyone in their performance, could be a great venue for a rock concert!!!!
I think a rock concert might concern the locals Woolly, the Amphitheatre is still used occasionally in this day and age but usually for opera performances.
Woolly says – Opera? Hmmm….will have to check that out. As we made our way down again Jo told me that Aspendos had been in existence from the 5th century B.C. and was built by a renowned architect known by the name of Zenon and that Alexander the Great had occupied this city as well. Leaving the Amphitheatre behind us we took a sloping track upwards to view the rest of the city, we could see the Roman aqueduct and as we climbed up a very steep bank we came upon
what would have been the main city area with its basilica and agora. The views were stunning and well worth the walk, as I imagined myself as a Roman soldier going about my duties I really felt history coming alive.
Having taken our fill of Aspendos we headed back to the D400 on continued on our way to Side.
Woolly says – Ian told me that Side means pomegranate (not keen myself but Jo likes them, no accounting for taste!) and that Side is one of the earliest settlements of the Anatolia region. In the 6
th century it an important harbour which meant it would have been an extensive commercial town. Its history included being the regions slave market!!! Hope Jo and Ian don’t sell me off to be a slave!!!!
Hmmm very tempting Woolly but your safe in this day and age.
Woolly says – it was easy to tell we were approaching Side as more and more ruins came into view, with walls, aqueducts, an agora, baths, theatre, temples and tombs, there was so much to see. Parking up we started to walk towards the town centre, a long grassy road stretched away into
the distance with column upon column marking the edges. Large chunks of ruins lay everywhere, some carved and some not identifiable. On both sides of the main road there was more to see, taking a pathway over the grassy hillocks we found what would have been a library with broken sculptures of the ancient Gods and Goddesses, finding a path through the old Roman wall we found ourselves above the harbor area in what appeared to be a ruined Christian chapel and the remains of a town, but just when I thought it couldn’t get any better there in front of me was Apollo’s Temple.
It was pretty stunning! Although in ruins the sight of the temple was incredible.
Woolly says – It hurt my neck stretching to keep looking at the top, facing out to the sea it was awesome and it made me wonder what sort of temple would have been built for me in that period of time.
A very small temple!
Woolly says - The magnificent Apollo Temple, built in Corinthian style is next to a Byzantine Basilica and the Athena Temple and dates from around the first century AD. A section
of the Apollo Temple was recovered and restored between 1983 and 1990 and now forms a stunning backdrop through which to view the sun setting. I was stunned too.
Following the road round the harbor we sat for a while having coffee and ice cream……
Woolly says – it was very nice ice cream
….. walking up through the main shopping area we were approached by shop keepers selling their T shirts, perfume, Turkish delight and all other manner of tourist mementos.
Woolly says – but then we saw the Amphitheatre, another one, wow this area is good, the Romans would have had no shortage of entertainment. The information board told me that the Amphitheatre was built on colonnaded arches, with a capacity of 15,000 seats. It dates from the 2nd century A.D. and is the largest in the area. The audience section is a curved semi-circle. Gladiator and animal fights took place in the theatre…. Hope they don’t expect me to fight my way out!!!!!. It’s not in a good state of repair but we were able to get to the highest seats and it was all too easy to imagine the lions prowling around
in the area below.
The Amphitheatre is still used today; Pavarotti gave a concert here and said that it had some of the best acoustics he had ever heard.
With daylight fading we walked back towards the car passing the Roman baths, now a museum, with some of Turkey's finest archaeological collections (another visit here in the future???) and shops that would have served the city in its hay day.
Woolly says – this was a fantastic day out and although there was lots of walking involved we didn’t see everything – can we come again please?
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