Side / Aspendos Tour Program
The price is 230 Euro per person, with a minimum of 15 attendees. The package includes the entrance fee to Side and lunch. Payment should be made during the time of conference registration. There will also be an option to register for the excursion during the conference. A detailed schedule of the excursion is found below:
Feb 06, Thursday
- 09:00 Departure from Hotel
- 10:00 Arrival to Side
- 11:30 Departure from Side
- 12:00 Arrival to Aspendos
- 13:30 Visiting Roman Aquaducts & Theatre – departure
- 14:00 Lunch ( by the river) Köşk Resturant or Belkıs Star resturant!
- 15:30 Derparture from restaurant to Kemer
- 16:30 Return to the Hotel
The Antalya region is scattered with ancient ruins, but it is tricky to view them without a car. Visit the sites of Side and Aspendos with ease on this guided tour. Depart from your hotel in an air conditioned coach and explore the ruined city of Side. Wander through the theater at Aspendos. At midday, pause for a riverside lunch. Enjoy hassle-free pickup and drop-off from your hotel. Learn about the ancient ruins from your guide.
SİDE
Side Ancient City is 80 km from Antalya. east of Manavgat, 7 km. It was founded on a 350-400 meter wide peninsula located in the southwest. In the Ancient Period, Side was the most important port city of Pamphylia, B.C. It is known that it was a settlement in the 7th century. The city, which has hosted many civilizations throughout history and lived through the Greeks, Lydians, Persians, Romans, Seljuks and Ottomans Period, has had a strategic importance as a trade and port city for centuries.
The Ancient City of Side, which was the episcopal center in the 5th century, experienced its heyday in the 5th and 6th centuries. However, it lost its power over time with the subsequent Arab raids. Invasions, plunder during the crusades and natural disasters caused the city to be abandoned. The city, which was completely evacuated in the 12th century, came under the rule of the Seljuks in the 13th century, and the Hamitoğulları Principality and Tekelioğlus in the 14th century. Since the Seljuks and Ottomans did not settle in Side, there are no artifacts from these periods.
Side Ancient City, as seen in other Pamphylia cities, extends along a monumental street starting from the main gate of the city. Starting from the ‘Great Gate’ in the northeast, the main street proceeds along the peninsula in a mostly straight line and ends in a large square near the temples. The second largest street of the city also extends from the ‘Great Gate’ to the south of the city.
ASPENDOS-BELKIS
The city was originally built on the then navigable river Eurymedon, on the mountain where the acropolis is today. The oldest name of the city we know, Asiawanda (the land of the horses) in the old local Anatolian languages, is now very famous for its most intact 2nd century AD Roman Theater and for the aqueducts which are a rare engineering feat. The Theater was built by Zenon, one of the most famous architects of the time, in the 2nd century AD. It is known as the best-preserved Roman Theater, with very good acoustics, and a capacity of 15,000 spectators. It is known to hold 20,000 people nowadays, when there are concerts by nationally and internationally famous orchestras of classical music and singers. There are concerts, plays, and other entertainments throughout the tourist season. It was used as a church during the Byzantine era and as a palace during the Seljuk’s reign. Other than the lack of decorative statues, the stage building is in perfect condition. The water was brought to the city from the mountains through tunnels and over the aqueducts. The aqueducts that bring water to Aspendos are a great feat of engineering, very rare of its kind. The aqueducts cross a marsh of almost one kilometer by piping made of stone fittings on lower aqueducts. The 30 meter tall towers are used to change the direction of the piping and for the siphoning system.
For more information about Aspendos and Side, Please visit