the BIRD HOUSE PROJECT

AAs Incekum Primary School, we have started a new project linked to our environment project. In this task, our students are creating several kinds of bird house designs. They create their own bird houses getting little support gudiance from their teachers and parents. In two weeks time, we suppose to end the first stage of the project and by March we will start the second stage in which we will look for the suitable places to settle the built houses. In deed, in our region there is a Bird Sanctuary and National Park and probably we will organize a trip to that place and settle them with our students. The main purpose in operating this project is to widen awareness for environment and to improve the students knowledge and sensitivity about the nature.

THE NOSTALGIA - LANGUAGES DAY - PAZARKÖY

It was an exciting work we did together with my students in 2006 - 2007 in my ex-school. I still remember how willingly my students worked on the task. They were all very creative in preparing materials, collecting useful things representing the countries they were responsible to introduce. I still remember how hard we worked on preparing traditional music and making films and slayts to display during the day. In deed, the photos you see here are actually enough to show their feelings about the work. I wonder where they are now. I hope they are all in peace...

Apollon Temple, Side; A Very Mystic Side

SIDE
Side is located on a peninsula penetrating into the Mediterranean. It was one of the important civilizations and has become one of Turkey’s major holiday centers.

History of the City
Side was founded by Aeolians of the Aegean region. The history of the town extends back to the 7C BC. "Side" meant "pomegranate" in the local language. Until the Roman Imperial period, pomegranate was the symbol used on the coins of Side. In the two centuries following Alexander the Great, Side was dominated usually by the Seleucids of Syria and less often by the Ptolemy of Egypt.
The peak period of the city of Side started around 2C BC when it had established and maintained good relations with the Roman Empire. This period continued until the 3C AD. The most impressive of the structures to be seen in town had been constructed during those times. Side lost its prominence during the 4C AD, however it prospered as a clerical center in the 5C AD. With earthquakes, Christian zealots and Arab raids, by the 10C AD, the site was completely abandoned, left to be buried.
The last massive settlement to Side has been in 1895 when Turkish immigrants from Crete were settled in the town. This settlement is the nucleus of the present town. But the old and the new are insolubly merged and intertwined in Side.

The Site
Entrance to the site is from among the well preserved city walls and through the main gate of the ancient city. But the gate itself has been damaged badly. After the main gate, starts the colonnaded street. The modern road follows exactly the course of the ancient avenue, although the marble columns that were once used do not exist anymore. A few broken stubs can be seen near the old Roman baths.
The colonnaded street reaches first to the agora and to the theater. It was one arm of the two avenues of the Corinthian style. At the left side of the avenue are the remains of a Byzantine Basilica.
The remains of a public bath have been restored and now serve as the Museum. This building is situated before the agora, on the right side of the street. At the Museum, Roman period statues and sarcophagi are on display. The remains of the agora can be seen on the left side. This was also the place where pirates sold slaves.
After the agora comes the theater with remains of a monumental gate and a fountain at the entrance. The fountain has been restored. The present remains of the theater date from the 2C AD. The skene of the theater is in a bad state. The theater had a seating capacity of 15,000 people and was used in the late Roman period for gladiator fights as well. The theater was used as an open air church in the 5-6C AD. Near the theater was the Temple of Dionysus of the early Roman period.
The colonnaded avenue which starts at the gate and leads up to the theater used to extend on the other side, up to the harbor. This part of the avenue is now beneath the present town of Side. Near the harbor there are two temples side by side. One of these has been dedicated to Apollo and the other to Artemis. 6 columns of the Apollo Temple have been restored and re-erected. In front of the temples was a Byzantine Basilica.