Eastern Riviera Circuit: Side the Apollo Temple on the Beach, the Manavgat Waterfall, the Side Roman Ruins, the Seleucia Pieria Ancient City, and the Full Eastern Riviera Day Trip
The eastern Riviera circuit covers Side as the most architecturally romantic single resort site on the Turkish coast with the Apollo Temple on the beach, the Manavgat waterfall park, the Side Roman ruins and museum, the Seleucia Pieria mountain city, and the full eastern Riviera day trip from Alanya.
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Side: The Apollo Temple on the Mediterranean
Side, 65 kilometers west of Alanya, is the most architecturally romantic single resort site on the Turkish Mediterranean coast where the 2nd century AD Temple of Apollo with its five standing Corinthian columns rises directly from the ancient agora at the sea edge, with the Mediterranean breaking against the temple platform below and the restaurant tables set among the agora ruins. The temple sunset, when the failing light turns the Apollo columns gold above the darkening sea, is the most photographically celebrated single ancient monument sunset in Turkey and the image that most completely captures the layering of ancient history and modern Mediterranean resort life.
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Side Roman Ruins: The City in the Resort
The Side ancient city ruins embedded in the modern resort town are the most urbanistically unusual single archaeological situation in Turkey, where the Roman colonnaded street, the triumphal arches, the nymphaeum fountain, and the agora are surrounded by the tourist shops, the ice cream vendors, and the sunscreen-applying beach visitors. The Side Nymphaeum (Roman fountain monument), the Gate of Vespasian, and the Byzantine basilica ruins are the most completely integrated single set of ancient monuments within a functioning resort beach town in the Mediterranean world. The Side Archaeological Museum in the renovated Roman bath building houses the finest single collection of Pamphylian marble sculpture.
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Manavgat Waterfall: The Eastern Riviera Nature Stop
The Manavgat Waterfall 3 kilometers from Manavgat town, where the wide Manavgat River drops 3 meters over a broad travertine ledge in the most photogenic single inland waterfall on the Turkish Riviera, is the most popular single nature excursion from the Side and Alanya resort hotels with the pleasant restaurants along the river bank serving the fresh river trout and the Turkish breakfast. The waterfall itself is underwhelming compared to the major waterfalls of Turkey but the river bank environment and the fresh water context within the Mediterranean coast resort area make the Manavgat Waterfall the most accessible single freshwater nature experience on the eastern Riviera.
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Side Museum: The Pamphylian Sculpture Collection
The Side Archaeological Museum in the restored Roman bath building at the Side city entrance contains the most important single collection of Roman-period Pamphylian sculpture in Turkey with the 3rd century AD sarcophagus friezes, the portrait statues from the Side agora, the bronze votive figurines, and the mosaic floors from the Side Byzantine houses. The most celebrated single piece is the 2nd century AD statue of the Three Graces found in the Side Nymphaeum, one of the finest examples of the Roman period Three Graces sculptural type surviving in any Mediterranean museum.
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Seleucia Pieria: The Taurus Mountain Ancient City
Seleucia Pieria (also called Seleucia on the Calycadnus), the ancient city on the Taurus mountain slope above Alanya at 900 meters altitude, is the most dramatically positioned single ancient city on the eastern Riviera with the mountain city walls, the theatre, the Roman water cisterns, and the colonnaded street section commanding the most extensive single panoramic view of the eastern Mediterranean coast in the Alanya area. The Seleucia site is reached by a 30-minute mountain road drive from Alanya and the site visit combines the ancient city exploration with the mountain landscape contrast to the coastal resort.
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Eastern Riviera Day Circuit: The Complete Excursion
The eastern Riviera day circuit from Alanya covering Manavgat waterfall, Side ruins and museum, the Side Apollo sunset, and the return by the coastal D400 highway is the most historically rewarding single day excursion from the Alanya resort hotels. The 120-kilometer round trip by rental car or the organized excursion bus allows a full day at the Side-Manavgat complex with the morning Side ruins, the afternoon Side beach, and the sunset at the Apollo Temple columns before the coastal highway return to Alanya in time for the harbor dinner.
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More in Alanya
Alanya History: The Seljuk Conquest and Alaeddin Keykubad, the Alanya Shipyard, the Byzantine Kalonoros, the Ottoman Incorporation, and the Banana Agriculture of the Sheltered Microclimate
Alanya Practical: Antalya Airport Transfer, Bus and Shuttle Connections, the Beach Choice, Accommodation from Budget to All-Inclusive, the Best Season, and the Departure Summary
Alanya to Antalya: Aspendos the Best Preserved Ancient Theatre, Perge the Pamphylian City, Termessos the Unconquered Taurus Fortress, and the Antalya Province Ancient Heritage
Alanya Essential: The Seljuk Red Tower, the Fortress on the Promontory, Cleopatra Beach, Damlatas Cave, the Turkish Riviera Resort Character, and the Dim Cave Day Trip
Alanya Underwater: The Diving Scene, the Blue Cave, the Phosphorescent Cave, the Pirate Cave Boat Tour, Underwater Archaeology, and the Eastern Mediterranean Dive Sites
