Lyrbe, a Pamphylian city. It is a place located about 17 km, or 25-30 minutes by car, from the ancient city of Side. Its Google location is exactly correct. Lyrbe is on a route without public transportation, but it can be reached by private car. It has an easy-access asphalt road, lies under the trees, and is a comfortable and pleasant city to visit. There is no ticket booth for entry; it is free, and you can go at any time you like.
While Ancient Side is located by the sea, for Lyrbe you climb upward from between Side and Manavgat. It is absolutely worth seeing this place; I recommend it.
The information text at the entrance of the ancient city says that the city was “mistakenly” introduced as Seleukeia, that the name Seleukeia may belong to another settlement, and therefore that this city is “most probably” Lyrbe. So let us remain faithful to that and use its main name. Lyrbe is a well-preserved ancient city and carries traces from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Eastern Roman periods. I owe the most emotional part of my visit to Lyrbe to a restaurant owner during a lunch break.
Actually, it was something I already knew, but he reminded me of it again. Lyrbe was damaged in the Manavgat fire of July 2021, which went down in records as one of Turkey’s largest forest fires. The ancient city, which used to be completely covered with trees, suffered damage and collapse in some of its walls because of the burned trees.
In Lyrbe, where the agora, bath, temples, church, and cemetery sections can be seen, the most striking place is the agora and its surroundings. As in a typical Roman city, you can imagine the living spaces around the agora filled with people. When I imagined the two-storey structure without a roof with its roof and its use at the time, quite a large city center came alive in my mind. You can also identify the location of the bath, again one of the most prominent places in a Roman city, during your visit.
Since it is a place with an earth floor and under trees, you may preferably plan your trip here for rainless weather. My visit took place on a cloudy day; you can see it from the photographs. I caught especially beautiful photos from the rocky areas at the back of the city. Lyrbe was quite generous in this respect; it allowed shots from above and photographs that took the whole city into the frame.
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Photos: Author’s Archive
