Side Museum – Discover the traces of past civilizations of Side
Being the hub of various natural and historic visiting sites, Side is the preference of many tourists. Every place in Side is worth visiting that can make your holiday memorable. One such beautiful and historical site is the museum of Side. If you don’t visit the Side museum, you may regret not exploring the beautiful artifacts collection it features.
The archaeological Museum of Side is a nice place to visit in your holiday in Side because of two reasons. Firstly, the vast collection of artifacts is incredible. All these artifacts were discovered in the mid-twentieth century during the excavations of ruins in Side. Secondly, the exhibition of these artifacts takes place in originally a Roman Bath building which was converted to museum.
Here’s all the information and things to know about Side Museum:
The Historical Background of Side Archaelogical Museum
Located outside Side old town, the museum building was constructed in the 4th Century AD as a Roman bath. The structure of the building was built on a rectangular layout with the sides of 41.5m and 26m in length respectively. There were five rooms with different sizes in the bath. All these rooms served different functions in ancient times. For instance, a hot water room, a cold water room, two rooms with warm water and a sauna. Moreover, there was a thermae which consisted of a swimming pool and a dressing room.
A courtyard was also there on the western side of the building. People used this area to do physical exercises, especially boxing and wrestling. But now, this area serves as the museum’s garden. Many statues and sarcophagi are present in this courtyard.
A wealthy family of Side, the Devres sponsored the renovation of the bath building in 1961 as a museum. And this magnificent Roman bath has been serving as the Archaeological Museum of Side since 1962.
Artifacts collection:
The museum mostly exhibits the artifacts discovered during excavations in and around Side. Professor Arif Müfid Mansel conducted these historical excavations between 1947-1967.
Here’s the detailed information about different artifacts present in the museum:
* A collection of antique coins from the Byzantine, Roman and Greek periods are present inside the building. These coins are from Side, Pamphylia, and Pisidia area.
* The sarcophagi and statues in the museum are the representation of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods.
* Many inscriptions and small artifacts from everyday life from Luvi, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman eras.
Display Halls:
The first hall, named frigidarium, contains sundials from the temples of the Roman period, basalt craters from the Late Hittite era and weapons from the Hellenistic era. The second hall, named sudatorium, exhibits the torsos from the Roman era. The third hall, named Caldarium features Roman amphorae, some wonderful Hercules sculptures, Hellenistic inscriptions, the sculptures of Nike and Three Graces. The fourth hall, named tepidarium, contains statues of Greek goddesses and gods. Moreover, some tombs from Roman era are also there.
Location of Side Museum
The museum is located on Liman Caddesi (Harbor Street). It is very close to the entrance to the ancient town, opposite to the Roman theatre.
You can visit the museum from 9 am to 7 pm in summer, and 8 am to 5 pm in winter and it is open all year round. The entry fee of the museum is 30TL in 2021.
To sum up, the museum in Side, Turkey is the perfect place to get a deeper insight of the past civilizations reigned in Side.
