Perga was an old city even in the first century. Its name (which is not Greek) indicates that its origin dates from pre-Greek times. Alexander the Great passed through it twice while the Pergaeans offered no resistance to him although it was a walled city with a citadel. In Roman times the main streets were over twenty-one meters wide. They were lined with Ionic colonnades and a water channel ran down their center in a series of small waterfalls as in Antalya today. Behind the colonnades stood the shops. Of the early buildings the stadium and the theater have survived the ravages of earthquakes and wars with the least damage. In fact this stadium which could seat about fourteen thousand people is one of the best preserved in Turkey.
The temple of the Pergaean Artemis according to a writer of the time was “a marvel of size, beauty, and workmanship.” Its location has yet to be established; it may have been where there are now ruins of a Byzantine church on a hill to the southeast of the city.
Perga is on a rise not far from the Cestrus River which was navigable In Paul’s time. It was not a seaport in terms of Its being directly on the Mediterranean even then, but rather it was more easily defended where it was: its distance from the open sea made it less vulnerable to piracy.
Two people stand out among the early residents of Perga. Apollonius was a third century B.C. astronomer and mathematician who believed that the movements of heavenly bodies in the universe were explainable by orbits within orbits: that the moon went around the earth as the earth went around the sun. He was much ahead of his time in his theories of astronomy, so much so that the ideas had to be rediscovered during the Renaissance. Plancia Magna was unusual for a second century A.D. woman: she held the highest city office during her life, that of demiurgus. She must have been well-to-do for a number of inscriptions record her gifts to the city.
Paul and Barnabas went through Perga on their way to and from Antioch on their first journey (Acts 13:13, 14:25). John Mark was with them at first but left them at Perga to return to Jerusalem. The reason for that must have been such that Paul doubted his commitment to the cause. Later when Paul and Barnabas were about to start on their second journey from Antioch they had a sharp dispute over his worthiness. Paul refused to have him go along, so John and Barnabas went to Cyprus while Paul chose Silas to accompany him.
Paul talks in II Corinthians 12:7 and in Galatians 4:13-14 of bodily illness that brought him to Galatia the first time. It may have been on that account that he did not stay long in Perga the first time. Whatever the illness was, it seems to have improved in time in the dry mountain air to the north.
The second theory of why they did not stay long in Perga is that their interview with Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, had made them want to hurry to the Roman colony in Antioch of Pisidia. This interpretation may lay too much stress on the lasting importance of that meeting with a cultured Roman who could have been more interested in the pursuits of the mind than the salvation, in Christian terms, of his soul. It is interesting, however, that this is” the point in Acts (13:9) that Luke begins to call Paul by his Roman name, not his Jewish “Saul”.
On their return they did stay in Perga long enough to preach and talk with people there. Nothing else is told about the city or their time there.
Perga,
Some areas closed due to excavation, including the amphitheatre. Still worth a visit though as it's big enough. Have a small bottle of water with you as you walk around. A fair few tour groups so if you can get a hire car and arrive early it'd be quieter. Give yourself at least two hours if you want a good…
A truly wonderful site visited on a local tour. . Huge ruins and even a little wild tortoise wandering about the Agora! Fabulous artifacts in the Antalya museum.
We visited as part of the Thomas Cook trip combined with the waterfalls and amphitheater.
Our guide Abraham was proper old school guide and knowledgeable historian with a love of social history. He spoke about myths legends and then archaeological truth and discovery. Some of the other tours had flasher louder younger guides who seemed to speed round the site….
Perge is situated within 1 7 kms of the city and is worth a visit if you've got time to play here in Antalya. During the Roman Period it became one of the most orderly cities of Anatolia and there you can find two main roads. The 15.000 seat theatre is quite well preserved.
The artefacts found there are today…
nice day out, went with thomas cook english tour which gave us a good undersatnding of the history of perge. just wear comfortable shoes!
I went here as part of a tour which only allowed us 1 hour there. Which is great because you have a tour guide to ask questions of, but 1 hour is too short. The Istanbul University archeology students have been spending their summer holiday reconstructing the uncovered ruins and uncovering even more. It's a bummer, because you can see…
Superb huge ruins where you are allowed to walk the entire grounds at your leisure. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and I recommend using one.
Most of all I like flowers, carved on marmor. You must be lucky with the gide, lots are under the earth, so we can wait at the site can present us with more in the nearest future
We visited off season and had Perge almost to ourselves. This is relatively undeveloped, and you can explore the city as you like, discovering surprises and interesting things around every turn. The ruins of the baths are fantastic, and the main road with the water channel running down the center looks like the ancient model for the current Ataturk Caddesi…
We have visited many ancient sites, and this one stacks up nicely with most of them. Strong points: carefully excavated and well-signed in English, lots to see, unrestricted access to everything in the site, relatively few other tourists when we went. Weak areas: no tour guides available when we were there (although the well-signed site really doesn't need one), few…