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The quiet beach village of Side is a minute, restorative gem on the Turkish Med
I believe our "heavens on earth" change with time, with age. These heavens can be quiet, secluded places for us to give our bodies and souls a thorough rest, or places to honeymoon – although not necessarily with the formality of marriage beforehand. The ancient village of Side, on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, whose name means "pomegranate" in ancient Anatolian, was once one of my "heavens on earth".
Since then, I have discovered and enjoyed many more places on different continents, and given a longish rest to Side before rediscovering it a few years ago. Now I fancy revisiting this fishing village on every possible occasion. Side (pronounced "sea day") lies about 75km east of Antalya, halfway to Alanya, both popular, rather developed tourist resorts. The 30 minute drive from Antalya passes the ancient cities of Perge, Selge and Aspendos, all interesting historic sites to explore, and the Manavgat waterfalls, a nice cool spot to escape the summer heat.
The town of Side is in the middle of an ancient Pamphylian city. A melange of mythological history with sea, sand and sun. The stone buildings in the centre include a well-preserved amphitheatre, a temple of Apollo with its erect and not-so-erect pillars, the façade of a classical library building, a Roman bath and so on. It is a tiny village, within ancient fortification walls, on a small cape with wonderful long, sandy beaches on both sides, with warm weather, warm water and calm seas at least six months of the year, best from May to September. Tourism in Side began in the late 50s when it was a little village, and archaeological excavations – as well as the empty beaches – started to attract people. Relics from these archaeological efforts are exhibited in the Side museum, housed in a perfectly restored Roman bath. Among them are some of the finest Roman statuary in Asia Minor. Local fishermen and farmers started to rent out their own rooms, sharing their kitchens. I wasn't around at that time.
- Mehmet Murat SOMER
- The Guardian, Saturday 10 April 2010
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