Sightseeing: Perge

This city was built 18 km east of Antalya between the Duden and Aksu streams. This is reached along the Antalya-Alanya highway, turning north at Aksu, arriving at Perge 2 km. further on. As it was not settled on the coast, it was not subjected to raids by pirates and therefore continued its progress without interruption.

Perge was originally settled by the Hittites around 1500 B.C. St. Paul preached some of his first sermons here. In 223 B.C. Perge, like Side, reached an agreement with Alexander and thus did not go to war or suffer the usual ravages. It lived through the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine epochs. Its 15,000 spectator theatre was built in the 2nd century A.D., and the nearby stadium could hold 12,000 people. With the exception of the Aphrodisias stadium, it is the best preserved in Anatolia. There are 30 rooms, believed to have been used as shops, underneath the stadium seats. A great many statues and other valuable items have been unearthed in recent digs, of which many are in the Antalya Museum. Some of the things forth seeing in Perge are the gates, agora, nymphaeum, the pillared streets, sarcophagi, basilica and acropolis.

The theatre's stage has finely carved marble reliefs; other carvings from around the city are displayed in the stadium. Amateur archaeologists will want to see the handsome city gate flanked by two lofty towers, a long colonnaded road once paved with mosaics and lined with shops, a large agora, the public baths and a gymnasium.

The name Perge comes from Anatolian dialect; nonetheless, in ancient times the townsmen believed that it had been founded by Greek heroes after the siege of Troy. Perge is also known because it is the birth-place of the mathematician Apollonius, author of a famous treatise on geometry.

To understand the importance of the city it is necessary to visit its remains. You can see the ruins of the antique theatre (capacity 12,000 people), its stage has marble reliefs about life of Dionysos a stadium, which is in a shape of "U" for 12,000 people; remains of the first church built in Perge, an agora, which has dimensions of 76x76 m. and it's surrounded by Corinthian columns, in the middle of it there is a round temple of Tyche (2nd century A.D.); a basilica - another structure from Christian Era with three entrances, a good example of a Roman Bath in the southern part of the city, and Hellenistic gates which later were converted into a court of honour by Plancia Magna. This city produced many famous personalities; among them we can mention Varus, the philosopher, the physician Asklepiades, the famous mathematician Apollonius and female roman ruler of the city Plancia Magna.