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Side is a romantic old small town from ancient times and the name means:

grenateapple. Sinds 1980 Side developed itself as a tourist area. Nice beaches and a nice town with Roman ruins makes Side very attractive amongst the tourists.  Close to Side (7km) is the big town of Manavgat.    ​​​​​

​​The tourists are not the first people who were attracted by this romantic location.  The Egypt queen Kleopatra already 2200 years ago had in Side a  rendez-vous with her lover: the Roman statesman Marcus Antonius.  In that time Side was a glorious and wealthy town.   After the Greek kolonists had settled themselves nearby a  Anatolish settlement in the 7th century before Christ,  the town was ruled by pirates. The Romans made after that civilisation in Side and promoted legal merchandising.    

When the harbour became sandy during the Byzantic times, Side lost its importancy and the glorious times were finished.  In the ruins what was left came in around the year 1900 Turkish familys from Crete ( Greek).   Now it is known that the original people who lived in Side are Crete-people.  You find sometimes old people in Side who only speak Greek language.  The younger generation because of the tourism speaks English and German language.
The first hotels were build after Worldwar-2 and Side is now a popular holiday resort.

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Side actually is one big open-air museum.  That's also the reason that "Unesco" invested a lot of money to make Side as it was in early times.  In Side only 31 houses are officially registrated, but when you walk around you see hundreds of shops. The rebuilding of Side started in 2018 and will take till 2024. Under it, is an antik City.

This year it is mainly the Mosque street that is no longer recognizable. Immediately after the rubble has been cleared, various teams from the archeology department come to excavate the site. Interesting excavations are secured and will be covered with glass panels that can be walked over. New buildings will be built around it, all in Ottoman style. All new buildings to be built must meet strict conditions. Also, less construction is allowed. Side will eventually become a fashionable tourist destination where shopping and dining go hand in hand with history

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The first video gives a good impression how Side looks nowaday's