Gymnasium, new favorite in Side

Umut Erdem - ISTANBUL

Significant structures in the ancient city of Side, located in the southern province of Antalya, have been revived during restoration works, with the city's Gymnasium (ancient school) standing out as one of the favorite sites of visitors coming to the region.

The structure, which draws attention with eight magnificent statues on its walls, hosted the work “Carmina Burana” performed by the State Polyphonic Choir.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry has accelerated the work on the Cultural Heritage Road project that has been initiated in Antalya. Within the scope of the project, a tour route is being created, starting from Syedra in Alanya, continuing with Alanya Castle and Perge, and ending with the ancient cities of Phaselis and Olympos.

A minimum budget of 600 million Turkish Liras will be allocated for the project in 2024. The most important leg of the Cultural Heritage Road project is the ancient city of Side.

A team of 150 people, including archaeologists, architects, restorers and workers, has been formed for the project. Work was carried out at 20 locations for 12 months, and 57 projects were completed. As a result of one year's work, important historical buildings, from ancient roads to the aqueduct and from the customs building to the Gymnasium were restored.

The most important structure that was restored as part of the project in the ancient city was the Gymnasium, a monumental building built for the education of young people who lived in the ancient Side. The structure was unveiled with the "Carmina Burana" concert performed by the State Polyphonic Choir, organized within the scope of the Antalya Cultural Road Festival.

The structure aroused great interest with its night lighting, magical atmosphere and eight large human statues.

Professor Feriştah Alanyalı, the head of excavations in the ancient city of Side, said, "With great support provided by the ministry in 2023, we achieved a big project that would take 20 years."

Explaining the work conducted in the city and the Gymnasium, Alanyalı said: “Gymnasium is a monumental structure built for the training of young people in Side. It was partially excavated in the 1950s. In 2017, most of the southern stoas [columned galleries] were meters underground. We uncovered eight statues in the Gymnasium. However, such a monumental facade had extremely serious static problems. The most important issue was to raise this structure. We dismantled the stoas of the entire building one by one. We fixed all of their static problems and erected them up again. We have completed the restoration of the facade."

“We created a tour route, starting from the monumental fountain and going to the large monumental streets and to the city's Gymnasium and temples. We will share this plan for the first time. This plan was not shared in the scientific world, too. We will determine all the spots on this plan and set up QR codes to make it understandable for visitors of Side. Nearly half of the city is still under sand. We uncovered a new aqueduct behind the fountain. Now we're trying to make its date clear,” the professor added.

Alanyalı said 150 workers were employed in the ancient city of Side and that the most striking of these workers are the women from Kaymaz village of Taşağıl neighborhood in the Manavgat district.

“Approximately 100 women help uncover the ancient city with their tools. They travel for 45 minutes every day to come to the historical site,” she said.