NOV 21, 2021, SUNDAY:

SUMMARY: Hadrian's gate, Perge [awesome], Aspendos [fab], wound up with the lovely Kursunlu falls.

We were out of our apartment by 8 am,

decided to drive into Kaleici to see the highlights of the old town. It being Sunday we hoped the traffic will be sparse.

Hadrian's Gate

We drove past the monumental gate leading into the Kaleiçi. the Hadrian's Gate (tr. Hadriyanüs Kapisi) or the Triple Gate (tr. Üçkapılar). Hadrian's Gate was built in 130 AD to commemorate the visit of Emperor Hadrian . It was incorporated in the walls surrounding the city, and has become a major gateway to the city. We parked for a few minutes in front of a closed shop

Two towers, standing on both sides of the gate, come from different periods of history. Southern tower (the one on the left looking from the Atatürk Boulevard) is from the Roman era, but it was, most probably, built independently from the gate. is called the tower of Julia Sancta

The northern tower (on the right) was rebuilt during the reign of the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubat I, that is, in the first half of the thirteenth century AD

We drove on toward Perge when hitting up more landmarks in Kaleici became problematic. We had driven around Kaleici's narrow one way streets for 30 minutes when we gave up.

PERGE

With some structures dating back as far as 1000 BC, the ruins of Perge and Aspendos are two of the most ancient sites nestled along the coast near Antalya. And, as important centers on the outskirts of the Roman Empire (St. Paul even delivered a sermon in Perge), these sites are of interest

The most impressive ruins of the Pamphylian coast are at the antique city of Perge or Perga, at about 15 km east of Antalya.

Historical Background

Perge was originally founded by the Hittites around 1500 BCE. and was known as Parha. It was a successful trading centre near the Aksu (ancient Kestros or Cestrus) river when Alexander the Great arrived in 333 BCE. He was welcomed in by the inhabitants and used Perga as a base for his Anatolian campaigns. Alexander was followed by the Seleucids under whom the city prospered and Perge's most celebrated inhabitant, the mathematician Apollonius of Perga lived and worked here. Apollonius was a pupil of Archimedes and wrote a series of eight books on geometry.

In 188 BCE, Perge became part of the Roman Empire. During this time the city flourished and most of the surviving buildings date from this period.

St. Paul started his journey in Perge (Biblical Perga) in 46 CE and preached his first sermon here.

Perge gradually declined during the Byzantine period, as the Aksu river silted, but remained inhabited until Selçuk times after which it became abandoned.

Out of the site proper, is the horseshoe-shaped stadium, the largest in Asia Minor, measuring 234 m by 34 m. The stadium had a seating capacity of 12,000 people supported by massive barrel-vaulted constructions. Just beyond the site entrance is also Perge's theatre, which is of the Greco-Roman type and could seat 15,000 people. Unfortunately, it has been for some time under reconstruction and is unfortunately closed to visitors.

ROMAN GATE

A visit to Perge starts by entering the archaeological site through the Roman Gate, built during the reign of Septimius Severus (193-211 CE).

Proceeding through the gate, to the right is the Agora or marketplace. This structure of 75 x 75 m dates back from the 2nd century CE. The centre courtyard and shops were surrounded by a wide stoa, a covered walkway. The floor of the stoa and shops was made of coloured mosaics. The agora was not only the centre of Perge's trade, but was also a place for meetings as well as a forum for political, social, and philosophical discussions.

HELLENISTIC GATE AND COURTYARD

The next building is the Hellenistic city gate that dates back to the 3rd century BCE. This is certainly the most imposing building of Perge and was cleverly designed to protect the city with its twin towers and its horseshoe-shaped courtyard at the back.

Bath., there are the excavated Roman baths located southwest to the agora. Like Turkish hammams, Roman bathhouses consisted of a complex of rooms, such as the hot room and the cold room. The latter, called frigidarium in Latin, was also discovered here at Perge.

Collonaded street

After passing through the Hellenistic Gate and courtyard, we enter a broad, marble-paved double-collonaded street measuring 300 meters in length, extending from the main gate to the acropolis of Perge. The street is 20 m wide and is divided in two by a 2-meter wide water channel running down the middle.

Chariot tracks...

Nymphaeum

At the end of the collonaded street is the Nymphaeum, a triumphal fountain from where a stream flowed down into the water channel. The nymphaeum is an ornamental semicircular structure and dates from the reign of Emperor Hadrian (130-150 CE). A statue of a river god Kestros was located in the centre of this huge fountain. Perge Nymphaeum anıtsal çeşme The way water would have once flowed out from under the statue of cestrus (now headless) would have been magnificent. His view over the city's main thoroughfare with its creek running through the centre is a great view.

water channel for the fountain...

Behind the nymphaeum lies the acropolis with some remains of the Byzantine period.

To the west of the nymphaeum are the remains of a Roman palaestra dating from 50 CE,

The steep path to the Acropolis was full of very tall weeds almost covering the steps on both sides.... we gave up climbing and returned.

We had dodged some stray dogs which persistently accompanied us. It had been amazing to be the only ones on the site...except for an American guy with a guide w remarked to us with a laugh.... how nice is it to own this place! We drove on to Aspendos ... 10 km away

ASPENDOS

Aspendos Ancient Theatre. is incredibly well preserved ancient theatre built in the 2nd century A.D., it has a capacity of 15,000 people and is still being used for festivals and music concerts.

The archaeological site with the Roman Theatre of Aspendos is located in the Pamphylian plain at 47 km east of Antalya and 37 km west of Side, near the village of Belkis.

History

In ancient times Aspendos was a river port city founded by colonists from Argos in Greece when they returned from the Trojan War. More probably its roots were Phoenician or Hittite. Like many other cities in the fertile plain of Pamphylia, Aspendos fell under the sovereignty of the Lydians and Persians.

After passing into and out of Greek and Persian hands, Aspendos submitted to Alexander the Great ca. 333 BCE.

After Alexander's death, Aspendos became part of the Seleucid Empire. Later, the city became part of the kingdom of Pergamon (Bergama) and finally, it came under Roman rule. Aspendos had its most prosperous period in the 2nd and 3rd century CE.

From ancient sources we learn that silver and gold embroidered tapestries, ornaments, and furniture made from lemon tree wood, wine and horses were exported. During the first and second centuries CE, significant building activities took place.

Presently, Aspendos is famous for its impressive Roman theatre, the best preserved in Asia Minor. The theatre was constructed in the 2nd century CE by the local Greek architect Zeno during the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE). The theatre was maintained by the Byzantines and Seljuks.

THE ANCIENT CITY OF ASPENDOS lies in Southern Turkey, in the ancient region of Pamphylia. Due to its location along the once-navigable Eurymedon River, it rose in wealth and prominence with the trade of valuable resources, and was successively ruled by Greeks, Persians, and Romans. A number of ancient structures survive today, including the nymphaeum, basilica, and agora, but the architectural jewel of Aspendos is its theater, widely consider the best-preserved ancient theater in the world.

The sheer scale of the Aspendos Theater is impressive. The overall width of the theater is 315 feet (96 meters), with other elements following general proportions: the width of the stage is half the width of the building, and the diameter of the orchestra is half the width of the stage.

The spectator tribune, meanwhile, is divided in two parts by a horizontal walkway called the diazoma. The lower section contains 20 rows of seat, while the upper has 21 rows. The theater’s capacity has been estimated at between 7,300 and 7,600 people at least, with room for 8,500 spectators if the stairs were used as seating (other estimates have placed the capacity at around 20,000, but that would have been a tight squeeze indeed).

The theater is also known for its excellent acoustics and exquisite architectural ornamentation. The two-story stage building is particularly impressive and, like most of the theater, has been exceptionally well preserved. This is largely due to the city’s continuous settlement through to the Byzantine and Seljuk periods. The Seljuks had used the theater as a caravanserai, and restored the structure in the 13th century.

In 1909, the British archaeologist David George Hogarth was very much dazzled by the theater. He wrote: “This is not like anything that I ever saw before. You may have seen the amphitheaters in Italy, France, Dalmatia and Africa; temples in Egypt and Greece; the palaces in Crete; you may be sated with antiquity or scornful of it. But you have not seen the theatre of Aspendos.”

And today, the theater is still being used for its original purpose. Every year since 1994, the Aspendos Theater has hosted the Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival, with thousands of people taking to the stands—just as they did 2,000 years ago.

We enjoyed the stunning sight of the theater. .Again with hardly anybody around. such an exclusive experience.

We had scheduled kURSUNLU also, so we skipped the Agora etc... anyway the path was closed and chained.

We followed our offline GPS and reached the area. Cras were pakrd by the roadside but we could not find any entrance. We parked and walked up a fork, then came back and drove along. No, that was just a lush valley. We came back and parked in the same place. A guy told us to use the parking lot. We were surprised why we were the only ones being told that. Anyway we drove to the parking lot. The entrance to the falls had been right near the side of the road. Lot of local families enjoying their Sunday

Kurşunlu Şelalesi [Waterfall]

Located 25 km (16 miles) northeast of Old Antalya , Kurşunlu Şelalesi is a fine place to take a cool break after a visit in the hot sun to the ruins of the Roman city of Perge, 12 km (7.5 miles) to the south. [head for the Roman ruins of Perge first, then go west 16 km (10 miles) to Düden, or north 10 km (6 miles) the Kurşunlu waterfalls on way back to Antalya.]