Culture of Manavgat. Places to visit - old town, temples, theaters, museums and palaces

One of the main symbols of the city is an amazing mosque Merkez Külliede Camii, it is the largest mosque on the territory of the Anatolian coast. The religious monument was built in 2004, the mosque has four minarets, the height of which is 60 meters. The beautiful mosque is one of the few in the world, the entrance to which is open to representatives of all religions. Tourists will have the opportunity to appreciate its luxurious interior design, precious marble is used in the decoration of the mosque. There is a special tank with drinking water inside, everyone can take it in bottles. There is formed a beautiful park around the mosque with interesting landscape decorations, it is a nice place where you can relax on a hot day.

There is another notable religious monument at the exit of the city - Sanayi Camii mosque. It can be visited only by representatives of the Muslim faith, but the building still does not remain without the attention of tourists. It is notable for its unusual architectural form, the building has a large central dome and four semi-domes made of tin. The mosque owes its unusual name to the fact that its facade is painted in a pleasant light green colour. The construction of the religious object was fully completed in 1973, its facade is decorated with elaborate ornaments with illustrations from the Koran.

Manavgat is located in an interesting archaeological area, the first cities in its place were founded thousands of years ago. Now there are several archaeological areas in the vicinity of the city where research is conducted, tourists can visit them as part of excursions. There are also preserved amazing ancient monuments directly on the territory of the city, the most famous is the main fountain of Manavgat. It was built in 74 ad, by order of Emperor Vespasian, there is a memorial inscription on the fountain. Now a large stone fountain is part of the landscape park, for almost 2,000 years the fountain remains active. There are walking paths next to it, you can see many rare plants and admire the centuries-old trees here. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

There is another interesting ancient monument in the immediate vicinity of Manavgat, reminiscent of the reign of the great Roman Emperor - the triumphal arch of Vespasian. It is located on the outskirts of Side city, the height of the ancient buildings is 13 meters. The luxurious arch with columns is decorated with antique sculptures, next to it is located a developing large archaeological area. Here researchers have discovered beautiful sculptures of Roman emperors, which are now presented in the local Museum. Just behind the arch are the ruins of the ancient city Side, almost the entire historic district is now available for tours. The ancient city was founded in the 7th century BC, here was restored a large amphitheatre, the main avenue of the city and fragments of ancient buildings.

Those who enjoy walking in historical places will be happy to visit the ruins of the ancient city Seleukeia, which is located ten kilometres from Manavgat. The ruins were discovered by archaeologists relatively recently, in the middle of the 20th century, the area was rich invaluable finds. Here archaeologists have found valuable works of art and crafts made of precious metals, which are now stored in one of the museums of Antalya. Visitors to the historic district will be able to admire the ruins of prehistoric buildings, here were partially restored palaces of local rulers and houses of ordinary citizens. The main value of the area is an ancient necropolis and a large-scale complex of Roman baths.

A well-known archaeological site far beyond the borders of Turkey is Lyrbe district, which can be reached from Manavgat in less than 30 minutes. This area is notable for the fact that it is located on the territory of a vast pine forest, so the ancient buildings found here look very impressive. During the tour, you can see the restored columns of luxurious palaces and temples here, fragments of stone houses, reconstructed square and fragments of temples.

The ancient town Lyrbe was founded in the 4th century BC, for many years it remained a major centre of trade. The existence of the historical region is not known to all tourists, it is far removed from the popular tourist routes. To reach the archaeological area, you should go on foot. It will be a fascinating walk through the picturesque pine forest, there are hidden ancient values in its thickets. Manavgat is ready to offer its guests a rich excursion program.