SIDE MUSEUM

Side Museum
Side Museum

Besides the bigger museum within Antalya if you head to the town of Side in the Manavgat district you can visit the curious Side Museum. The ancient agora bath from the 5-6th A.D. century was restored in the 1960s and converted into a museum. Most of the artefacts in this museum are from the Ancient City of Side and were discovered by Prof. Dr Arif Müfid Mansel in excavations during 1947-1967. Artefacts such as weapons, inscriptions, sculptures, temples, statues, tomb steles, ostotecs, column pedestals are all from either Hellenistic, Roman or Byzantine Periods. It is a much better collection or way of viewing the highlights of the ancient city of Side in a more condensed way. The first hall, for example, displays basalt craters from the Late Hittite Period and sundials from the Roman period temples. The museum is open every day, except Mondays. While visiting be sure to view the garden, quite interesting artefacts are displayed there.

Should you prefer to view the city itself and take a walk back in time might you make your way to the site of Side Ancient City or better yet go view exhibitions of other great moments of ancient Turkey at the Alanya Museum of Archaeology and Ataturk’s House Museum.