Agora was a market square in ancient Greek polis, which was the place of general civic assemblies (they were also called agoras). Usually located in the centre of the city, the square contained the central city market, divided into "circles" and government offices for various types of goods. As a rule, the agora was surrounded by galleries with craft workshops, temples, and sometimes statues erected around the perimeter of the square. Often agoras had a quadrangular shape in projection, with columns along the edges. In agoras were located many shops of various kinds. Very often this square was the economic and administrative centre of the city.
Agora in Side is located near the Side Museum. Only a few columns and the foundations of an ancient temple have survived.
In ancient times there were two agoras (squares) in Side. One of the squares still exists today. Side was a major trading centre. A huge slave market was located here. Especially the agora in Side was famous for its beautiful slave girls.
The preserved agora is located northwest of the colonnaded street and practically merges with the stage of the theatre. Its entrance lies through a gate called the propylion (colonnaded monumental entrance), which is opposite today's museum. It is surrounded on all sides by granite columns having in their pedestals the order "atik-ion" and on their tops the order "corinth". After the architrave, the sloping roof is wooden, and in the four corners of the agora are placed pedestals with statues (eksedras).
Behind the south-western Exedra, merging with the stage of the theatre, there was a semi-circular monumental structure - toilets (latrium) covered with a vault. It is the only sufficiently preserved and very beautifully decorated ancient toilet in Anatolia. It has twenty-four seats, its walls were covered with marble and the floor is mosaic. The sewer for the waste water was located under the stone seats of the toilet, and in front of it is an open water channel with fresh water, which ensured cleanliness.
The Agora at one time had two entrance gates that were enclosed by walls. The Agora in Side and all the other structures in it were erected in the second century AD. It was built specifically near the theatre, on the recommendation of Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect, so that theatregoers could take shelter in case of sudden precipitation.
Near its south-eastern wall was a road reaching the second agora of the city. The shops along the edges of this street were destroyed during the construction of the wall by Philipus Atius.
The centre of the square, which had a square in the centre of the city, had a square in the middle.
In the centre of the square-shaped square, one can see traces of a round temple of the goddess of luck and fortune, Tyche. She, according to legend, ruled the fate of the city. In honour of the goddess, a temple with a place of worship was erected, surrounded by columns with cornices.
