The Majestic Ruins of Perge, Turkey
The Explore group had a wonderful guide who toured Perge and Aspendos with us. This man really knew how to teach and make history come to life. He began by holding up huge flash-cards during the bus ride describing what we'd see at each site along with pertinent facts...View image. By doing this, we were prepared before even stepping foot inside the ruins...View image.
Perga (Perge) was founded inland around 1000 BC and constructed for defensive purposes to avoid the pirates that terrorized this stretch of the Mediterranean. Perge was colonized by Greeks after the Trojan war, but most of the surviving ruins date from the Roman period. The substantial remains include a theater, stadium, monumental gate and colonnaded street down the main Agora area...View image. It is said that St. Paul began his journey in Perge in 46 AD, and preached his first sermon here.
Everyone visits two important sights before entering Perge proper. First, the well preserved stadium built in the 2nd century AD with seating for 12,000. Below the vaults on the eastern side were 30 shops. Nothing has changed since the 2nd century. When heading to a sporting event, stop, shop and schmooze.
Perge's Great Theater came next and this Greco-Roman theater, also built in 2nd century AD, could seat 15,000. The seats were divided into two sections with 13 sets of steps and even used for gladiator combat during Roman times.
From there, to the unusual and gigantic Hellenistic-Roman gate-towers ruins, photographed by everyone because they're unusual. Prepare for lots of walking...View image...around this very large site in the heat, and it wasn't even summer yet (must be brutal then). "Before" and "after" of the gate-tower below...
At the end of the colonnaded street leading from the Agora is the Nymphaeum, a triumphal fountain dedicated by Septimius Severus. The Nymphaeum, an ancient Greek and Roman sanctuary consecrated to water nymphs, was fed by an aqueduct. The water poured forth from here into a wide channel that ran to the southern edge of Perge. The Acropolis was above the Nymphaeum.
Every Roman town had monumental baths consisting of a Caldarium (room having a hot bath), Frigidarium (room with unheated water), and a Hypocaust system - the system of below floor heating channels. The Explore group finished touring in the always interesting bath ruins, boarded the bus into town for lunch makings before heading to Aspendos.
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