|
Perge, which dates from the 3rd century B.C., is only a half-hour bus
ride out of Antalya, but finding the bus is a bit difficult.
The bus (or dolmus, as they call minibuses in Turkey) leaves from a traffic circle
on the outskirts of the modern city.
It took us a long walk and several helpful
bystanders before we actually found it.
The site is about a mile from the main highway where the dolmus drops
you off, but it is well worth the walk as you can see from the pictures
here.
Sadly for us, the large theater by the entrance to the site was being reconstructed
and so could not be visited, but we did see the hippodrome and then entered
the rest of the site via the re-erected main gateway to the city of Perge
shown at left.
|
The photo to the right shows part of an aqueduct, fed by the fountain
whose arch is visible at the foot of the hill.
The fountain in its turn
was probably fed by a spring in the side of the hill.
Having wandered through the site, we climbed the hill and found a seat
on some remains of the acropolis that gave us a panoramic view of the entire
site and the Turkish countryside beyond.
|
|
|
These columns mark the main street of the city and are to one side
of the agora, or market place.
We were very impressed by this, our first visit to a Graeco-Roman site
in Turkey.
Entrance to the sites is somewhat expensive, but it is
clear that the money is put to good use to protect and improve the monuments.
|
For more information about Perge on the web go to:
http://www.kusadasi.com/perge.html
|