Program:

• Pick up at 8 am from the hotel
• Visiting PERGE Archeological Site
• Lunch
• Visiting ASPENDOS Archeological Site
• Arriving at the hotel around 7 pm

Tour Fee Including:

• Pick up from your Hotel and back transfer to hotel
• Transportation
• Professional and experienced licensed guide during the tour
• Entry fees to the museums and sites
• Parking fees, Tax included
• Lunch

Excluding: Drinks

The city of Perge is 17 km east of Antalya city centre, within the borders of Aksu. It is not only the most organized part of the region but also for the whole of Anatolia. Its sculpture is as popular as its architecture. The important monumental structures of the city have been discovered through excavations made by the University of Istanbul since 1946 and due to the finds of sculptures Antalya Museum has one of the richest collections of Roman sculpture.Historians considered Perge was founded at the end of the Trojan wars (1275 B.C) but a Hittite tablet mentioning Perge was found in 1986 showing the city was established before the Trojan wars.

According to philological evidence, the city was a settlement from 3 thousand B.C. Some ceramic and stone finds indicate that the history of settlement extends back in time to the Early Bronze Age. The first settlement in the city was on the plateau to the north. The city developed and expanded in time over the southern plain. Perge, on the antique road which begins in Bergama (Pergamum) and ends at Side, owes its importance and development to the Aksu (Kestros) river. The river which is not the same today, played an important role bringing rich alluvial soil providing an important means of access to the city. It is known that Saint Paul and his companians sailed from the harbor at Paphos on Cyprus to Perge. The integration of the city and the river is indicated by depictions on coins, reliefs and the depiction of the River God (Kestros) in a sculpture on the monumental nymphaeum at the base of the south hillside of the acropolis. The most famous citizen of Perge was Apollonius of Perge, known for his astronomical, geometrical and mathematical ability. The second most famous person who lived in Perge during the 2nd century A.D. was the philosopher Varus. Although many Gods and Goddesses were worshipped at Perge, Artemis held a special place and importance. Artemis, whose roots are deep in ancient history, was called Wanessa-Preiia (Queen of Perge) in the local language and she was the main Goddess of the city. The cult of the Goddess Artemis Pergaia spread to neighboring countries, she was even worshipped overseas. The Artemis temple, often characterized by its beauty, size and magnificent architecture was built on top of a high hill and its location remains today as a mystery. From excavations and investigations it is clear that Perge experienced three bright periods. The first, during the Hellenistic period (2nd - 3rd centuries B.C.) represented by the great walls and towers which still partly stand today. The second was during the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. represented by monumental structures which are still largely standing today, the theatre, stadium, bath houses, monumental fountains and agora. The last bright period was during the Christian period in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. During this period the city was a metropolitan centre and many churches were constructed. The fact that the people of Perge showed no resistance to and welcomed Alexander the Great when he invaded the area in 333 B.C. was because they had no walls to protect the city.

Aspendos is located at 2nd km of the way turns to the north from 44th km of Antalya-Alanya highway and it is known for the best preserved Roman Age theater of Mediterranean World. The city was founded on the hill plane close to one of the biggest rivers of the region Köprüçay (Antique Eurymedon). The coins minted in 5. Century B.C. named Estvediys. The name, Anatolian-origin, is the evidence that the city was a settlement all along.

Today, the theater and waterways are visited in Aspendos where it owes to the river, thereby to benign around about its own development and transportation with Mediterranean. Ruins of the other structures belong to the city are situated in the level of the hill where the theater is based on. Aspendos Theater is one of the most elite representative of Roman Age theaters in present day with both its' own architectural features and preservation. The structure, dedicated to the Gods and the Emperors of the era, presents the latest end points of Roman Age architecture and construction practices. Aspendos Theater, one of magnificent structures of its period, was able to take 7.000 -8.000 people. It was built by architecture Zeno, son of Theodoras, in the period of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161-180). It is understood from the inscriptions at both side of entrance in Latin and Greek that it was made by two rich brothers named Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus.