Archaeologists have completed excavations along a nearly 390-metre-long monumental street in the ancient city of Side in southern Turkey, revealing how one of the city’s principal thoroughfares evolved from the Roman period into Late Antiquity.
The excavations on the route known as Street B uncovered a colonnaded walkway, monumental gateways and numerous adjoining rooms, providing archaeologists with a detailed record of centuries of changes to Side’s urban landscape.
Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, announced the results of the work, which was conducted as part of the country’s Heritage for the Future Project.
Among the most significant discoveries is the Herakles Gate, a monumental entrance incorporating ancient reliefs depicting the Twelve Labours of Herakles alongside several major deities.
Monumental Roman Street Revealed
Street B was an important transport artery through ancient Side, a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of what is now Antalya Province.
Excavations revealed an east-west stoa, or covered colonnade, dating to the second century AD along the northern side of the street. Archaeologists also identified numerous rooms constructed behind it.
Doorways and surviving threshold stones preserve evidence of the street’s original Roman-period architectural arrangement.
Three monumental entrances were uncovered along the stoa from west to east: the West Gate, the Herakles Gate and the North Baths Gate.
Of the three, the Herakles Gate has attracted particular attention because of its elaborate sculptural decoration.
Reliefs Depict the Twelve Labours of Herakles
The gate incorporates reliefs illustrating the Twelve Labours of Herakles, the legendary series of challenges undertaken by the hero of Greek mythology.
Other surviving panels depict Athena, Zeus, Artemis, Hygieia and Tyche.
Archaeologists have dated the reliefs to the early third century AD. However, evidence indicates that they did not originally belong to the Late Antique gateway.
Instead, the sculptures appear to have been taken from an earlier structure and reused as building material when the Herakles Gate was constructed centuries later.
The discovery offers another example of spolia — the ancient and medieval practice of incorporating architectural elements and sculptures from older monuments into newer buildings.
Bishop’s Palace Transformed the Street
Excavations have also revealed a major transformation of Street B during the fifth century AD, when Christianity had become firmly established within the cities of the eastern Roman world.
A large area immediately north of the street was incorporated into Side’s Bishop’s Palace complex. This redevelopment substantially altered the organisation of the surrounding neighbourhood.
Several existing entrances connecting the street with the northern stoa were closed, while new monumental entrances were constructed.
The changes transformed both the appearance and function of Street B.
Although it continued to serve travellers entering Side through the East Gate, the redesigned thoroughfare developed into a monumental urban axis that would have presented an imposing architectural approach to people arriving in the city.
Centuries of Side’s History Along One Street
The combination of Roman stoas, reused sculptures, monumental gateways and later Christian-period architecture makes Street B particularly valuable for understanding Side’s changing urban identity.
Rather than representing a single phase of construction, the approximately 390-metre route preserves evidence of successive generations modifying the same part of the city to meet new political, religious and civic requirements.
Researchers can therefore follow Side’s transformation from a prosperous Roman city into a major Late Antique centre along a single urban thoroughfare.
Sources : Aydinlik
