Antalya, Aspendos & Perge

Antalya, Turkey's principal holiday resort in the Mediterranean region (ancient Pamphylia), is an attractive city with shady palm-lined boulevards, a prize-winning marina on the Mediterranean. In the picturesque old quarter, Kaleici, narrow winding streets and old wooden houses abut the ancient city walls.

Since its founding in the second century B.C. by Attalus II, a king of Pergamon, who named the city Attaleai after himself, Antalya has been continuously inhabited. The Romans, Byzantines and Seljuks in turn occupied the city before it came under Ottoman rule.

The Beach	Cliffs beyond the harbor
Harbor view at sunset Hadrian's Gate When Emperor Hadrian visited Antalya in 130 A.D. a beautifully decorated three arched gate was built into the city walls in his honor.
Old Town	Along the promenade
Playing cards in old town
Harbor view	The beach....really labelled as such
Fishing	Eric, Colleen and Susan. Turkish coffee time.
Turkish navy
Relaxing by the Gate	Shoeshine man
546 BCE Aspendos (Estwediiys) under Persian rule 404 BCE Peloponnesian War ends; Sparta (Greece) now controls Athenian Empire including Aspendos 386 BCE Persians regain control of Aspendos from Sparta 334 BCE Alexander the Great defeats Persians 334 - 133 BCE Aspendos alternately under the control of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids following the death of Alexander and eventually falling into the hands of the Kingdom of Pergamon, to which it remained bound until 133 BCE 133 BCE Aspendos comes under Roman rule 161-180 CE theatre at Aspendos constructed; considerable municiple construction in Aspendos between 2nd and 3rd century AD while under Roman rule ca. 1200 CE Aspendos under Selcuk rule; theatre restored; reinforced the entire north wing with bricks and embellished for use as palace ca 1400 city was abandoned; the area now governed by the Ottomans 1871 ruins of Aspendos theatre discovered by Count Landskonski ; No pre-Roman evidence of Aspendos has been discovered
The ancient city of Aspendos (modern city of Belkis, ancient city of Pamphylia) is located on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast forty-seven kilometers from the modern city of Antalya. Its spectacularly well-preserved theatre is one of the best examples of Roman theatre construction in the world. While there was probably an earlier ancient theatre on the site, it was completely obliterated by the Roman theatre, which was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD). Mediterranean Sea	Coolleen in the cheap seats
	Looking down from halfway up.
Where we are in the trip	Perge—an amazing assemblage of forums, temples, and basilicas that stretch a historical timeline from 1500 B.C. to 46 A.D. when St. Paul preached his first sermon here in the 12,000-seat amphitheatre. This is the newer or outer Roman Gate. Next
These two boys were handing out greens...but really were watching out for the police, so they could run ahead to warn all the vendors illegally selling inside the ruins.	Perge was actually in a state of decline in Byzantine (Greek) times. It was finally abandoned in the 7th century.
Eric and Collen	Susan and Eric reconstructing.
The inner or Hellenistic Gates	The vendors quickly packing up after being warned of the police enroute.
Roman Bath

Exit

Next