Tuesday, January 18, 2022

TURKEY TRIP REPORT DAY 12 Antalya: Manavgat falls, Side, Düden Waterfalls

NOV 22, 2021, MONDAY:

SUMMARY Manavgat falls [gushing and great], Side [quaint and lovely], Duden falls [terrific]

WHAT WE MISSED :the Köprülü Canyon National Park (also easily accessible from Side), with the green-blue water of the Köprülü River snaking through dramatic and craggy high cliffs. Green canyon

UPPER DUDEN FALLS [with the cave reached through spiral stairs to watch the falls from behind]

This was our intended trip... we skipped the canyon due to paucity of time. In the morning we had again wasted time driving into Kaleici.... man, we seem to never learn!

https://goo.gl/maps/swdJJyFFFE3VpdZG9

Manavgat Waterfall (Manavgat Selalesi)

The Manavgat Waterfall is not very tall but spreads over a wide area. It is only 2 meters high, with the width reaching 40 meters. Usually, tourists come here on the way to the Green Canyon.

It is 85 km drive from our apartment. I was expecting a slippery stone trail as in Kursunlu falls but this was so easy. just a few steps from the car park and there it was a roaring waterfall rushing down with white foam and forming blue stream.

Very pretty and there were quite a few viewing platforms. LOVED IT!

Koprulu canyon was another 20 km north and we reluctantly turned toward Side.

SIDE

Side [pronounced see day] is a resort town on Turkey's Mediterranean coast

HISTORY

By 1000 BC Side, had its first settlement ; in the 7th or 6th centuries BC Greek settlers established a colony and built a harbor here, and the town began to prosper.

During the Roman era, this town became an important commercial center,

when the harbor began to silt up in the 7th century AD the town was eventually abandoned.

At the tip of Side's peninsula are the remains of the ancient town

Side's huge theater was the largest in ancient Pamphylia and could accommodate an audience of 15,000 in its 49 rows of seating. Although several of the supporting arches have collapsed, bringing down part of the auditorium, this is still a remarkable surviving example of Roman architectural skill.

Just behind the theater are the rambling ruins of the agora (Roman-era marketplace), which originally would have been surrounded by colonnades filled with shops.Beside the agora are the remnants of the circular Temple of Tyche (dedicated to the Roman goddess of fortune).

The Temple of Athena is dramatically placed on the harbor, with the standing columns looking out to sea

MUSEUM

DUDEN WATERFALLS

We got out of the ancient city and had our lunch in our car. Then we drove back to the apartment. Again, no time for Upper Duden falls which is 10 km from the city center. We had time only for the lower Duden where it joins the sea. Cascading from 40 m high cliffs into the sea, it was a spectacular sight though