Perge (Perga)
Perga (Turkey)
| | | | Perge (Greek : Πέργη) was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia and the capital of Pamphylia, now in Antalya province on the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Today it is a large site of ancient ruins 17 kilometres east of Antalya. | | Perge (Perga) : Virtual tour |  | 10 sections and 6 items |
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Perge (Perga) : Building(s) (8)
| Agora (2)
IInd century
The Agora of Perge is square in plan and measured 75 * 75 meters. It dates to the 2nd century AD.
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|  | Hellenistic gateway
between the IIIrd century B.C. and the IInd century
The Hellenistic gate, the Perge's most magnificent structure, is the only pre-Roman structures with the walls. Dating to the 3rd century BC, this gate, consisting of two towers with a horseshoe-shaped court behind them, was clearly designed according to the defensive strategy of the day.
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|  | Nymphaeum
The monumental fountain was built at the end of the colonnaded avenue, at the foot of the acropolis. This U-shaped two-storey edifice had wide arched doorways on both sides with projections at the side.
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|  | Roman gate
IVth century
During the time of the Pax Romana, which provided a period of continuous peace and tranquility, the walls lost their importance, and buildings such as the theater and stadium could be built beyond the walls without fear.
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|  | Southern Baths (1)
A monumental propylon directly north of the nymhaeum opens onto the largest and most magnificent bath in Pamphylia.
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|  | Stadium
IInd century
The Stadium was built in the 2nd century AD, and is one of the best preserved in Anatolia. Others are in Aphrodisias and Laodicea.
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|  | Theater of Perge
between 120 and 150
The Theater was originally a Hellenistic style theater with a horseshoe-shaped orchestra, but later, especially with the construction of the stage building in the 2nd century AD, the style was modified to Roman.
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|  | Water canal
The water brought from springs flowed under the statue of the River god Kestros which was in the center into the pool beneath it. The waters of the pool were carried along a canal in the middle of the colonnaded avenue, bringing life and coolness to the city.
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|  | Guide, map and satellite view of Perge (3)
En raison de sa proximité avec Antalya, Pergé est, avec Pergame, l'un des sites archéologiques les plus fréquentés de Turque. Il est recommandé d'arriver tôt. Les vestiges se trouvent à 2km d'Aksu. Le stade et le théâtre sont situés en dehors des limites de l'ancienne ville grecque.
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|  | Colonnaded Street
A colonnaded street runs north-south through the city centre going under the triumphal arch of Demetrios-Apollonios, currently under restoration, at a point near the acropolis.
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| Perge (Perga) : History | |
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Some sources say that the ancient city of Perge was founded by three people returning from the Trojan war. However the Hittite tablet found in Bodazköy mentions the name of the city as Parha, and judging from the name of a goddess on an ancient coin found there, the city has a very old history .
It is known that the lands where the Akhas settled around 2000 BC, and where the Hellenistic people from Epirus and from the Western Anatolian shores settled in 7th century BC were later ruled by the Lydians in the 6th century BC and also by the Persians.
These lands were conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BC and after his death were ruled by the Seleucids, the Pergamum Kingdom, and by the Romans after the 2nd century.
The people living here accepted Christianity in the 4th century.These areas were acquired later by the Byzantines, the Seljuks, the Hamitodullary Principality and later by the Ottoman Empire.
The city was developed in two sections : the citadel and the lower city. First the city settled on the Acropolis on the high plains and later spread down to the lower plains as well. This area on the plains consists of a grid plan determined according to the Hippodamos plan.
Skylax, who lived in the 4th century BC and was the earliest of the ancient writers to mention Perge, states that the city was in Pamphylia. In the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles, the sentence "... when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perge in Pamphylia" suggests that Perge could be reached from the sea in ancient times. Just as the Kestros provides convenient communication today, the diver also played an important role in antiquity, making the land productive, and securing for Perge the possibility of sea trade. Despite its being some 12 km inland from the sea, Perge by means of the Kestros, was able to benefit from the advantages of the sea as if it were a coastal city. Moreover, it was removed from the attacks of pirates invading by sea.
In later copies of a 3rd or 4th century map of the world, Perge is shown beside the principal road starting at stage wall Pergamum and ending at Side.
According to Strabo, the city was founded after the Trojan War by colonists from Argos under the leadership of heroes named Mopsos and Calchas. Linguistic research confirms that Achaeans entered Pamphylia toward the end of the 2nd millennium BC. In addition to these studies, inscriptions dating to 120-121 AD, discovered in the 1953 excavations in the courtyard of Perge's Hellenistic city gate, provide further testimony to this colonization. Inscriptions on statue bases mention the names of seven heroes - Mopsos, Calchas, Riksos, Labos, Machaon, Leonteus, and Minyasas, the legendary founders of the city.
There is no further record of Perge in written sources until the middle of the 4th century. There can be no doubt, however, that Perge was also under Persian rule until the arrival of Alexander the Great.
In 333 BC Perge surrendered to Alexander without resistance. Its submissive behavior can be explained by, besides its favorable policy, the fact that at this period the city was not yet surrounded by protective walls.
With the death of Alexander, Perge remained for a short time within the boundaries of Antigonos domain and later fell under Seleucid sovereignty. When the border dispute between the Seleucids and the king of Pergamum continued after the treaty of Apamea, the Roman consul Manlius Vulso was sent from Rome in 188 AD in the capacity of mediator. Learning that Antiochos III had a garrison in Perge, he surrounded the city at the urging of Pergamum's king. At this point the garrison commander informed the consul that he could not surrender the city before obtaining permission from Antiochos. for this, he said he would need thirty days, at the end of which, Perge passed to Pergamum.
Perge became totally independent when the kingdom of Pergamum was turned over to Rome in about 133 BC.
In 79 BC the Roman statesman Cicero described to the senate, Cilician questor Gaius Verres' unlawful conduct in Perge, saying, "As you know, there is a very old and sacred temple to Diana in Perge. I assert that this was also robbed and looted by Verres and that the gold was stripped from the statue of Diana and stolen".
Artemis occupied an important position among the gods and goddesses held sacred in Perge. An ancient Anatolian goddess appears on Hellenistic coins under the name Vanassa Preiia, as she was called in the Pamphylian dialect. After Greek colonization she became known as Artemis Pergaia. Besides being rendered on coinage as a cult statue or as a huntress, the Artemis of Perge is the subject of a variety of statues and reliefs found in excavations of the city. A relief in the from of a cult statue on a square stone block is particularly interesting. The cult of Artemis Pergaia also appears in many other cities, even in countries around the Mediterranean.
As famous as Artemis Pergaia was in the ancient world, no trace of the temple has yet been found. For the present we must content ourselves with what knowledge we can get from schematic representations of the temple on coins; of this renowned monument that safeguarded the gold-adorned statue of Artemis, and whose scale, beauty, and construction was marveled at by ancient writers.
In 46 AD, Perge became the setting of an event important to the Christian world. The New Testament book, the Acts of the Apostles, writes that St. Paul journeyed from Cyprus to Perge, from there continued on to Antiocheia in Pisidia, then returned to Perge where he delivered a sermon. Then he left the city and went to Attaleia.
From the beginning of the Imperial era, work projects were carried out in Perge, and in the second and third centuries AD, the city grew into one of the most beautiful, not just in Pamphylia, but in all of Anatolia.
In the first half of the fourth century, during the reign of Constantine the Great (324-337), Perge became an important centre of Christianity once this faith had became of official religion of the Roman Empire. The city retained its status as a Christian centre in the 5th and 6th centuries. Due to frequent rebellions and raids, the citizens retreated inside the city walls, able to defend themselves only from within the acropolis. Perge lost its remaining power in the wake of the mid-seventh century Arab raids. At this time some residents of the city migrated to Antalya.
Perge, transformed by artisans into a city of marble, was truly magnificent, with a faultless layout that would have been the envy of modern city planners. In order to fully appreciate its grandeur today, one must visit the Antalya Museum to see the hundreds of sculptures from Perge now housed there.
Among the famous men raised in this city can be cited the physician Asklepiades, the sophist Varus, and the mathematician Apollonios.
Perge has been under excavation by Turkish archaeologists since 1946. |
