Saturday 29 September – Pottering through Perge; immersing in the Mediterranean.

An easier day today – after breakfast by the pool (where we were eyed off by a large seagull) we boarded our bus and made our escape as the hordes descended on our hotel for the 2018 Zula International Cup (whatever that is – something to do with video gaming).  We travelled just 15km to Perge, at one time one of the most important cities of the region.  It dates back to 1300BCE and, although the ruins show the signs of earthquake damage and general deterioration, there is sufficient of the original city available to give a good picture of life in Greek and Roman times.  Significant archaeological restoration work has been done – a project of the Turkish government (much of the restoration work on many of the archaeological sites we have visited, on this trip and in earlier years, have been sponsored by other countries, including Australia).

Originally a Hittite town, in much earlier times Perge was occupied in turn by the Persians, Athenians, Persians again and the Romans.  The early inhabitants worshipped Artemis and held regular festivals in her honour.  Alexander the Great occupied the city at one stage with part of his army, followed by the Seleucids and then the Romans.  In 46CE, according to the Acts of the Apostles, St Paul and his companion St Barnabas visited Perge, went away and then returned for another visit.  Perge remained inhabited until about 1000CE.  Perge's most celebrated ancient inhabitant, the mathematician Apollonius (c.262–c.190 BCE), lived and worked here. He wrote a series of eight books describing a family of curves known as conic sections, comprising the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola.

The ruins of Perge cover a large area.  The first thing you notice when you arrive is the 14,000 seat theatre, which we were unable to enter due to safety concerns.  But the main street, with many of the columns and the adjacent shopfronts still intact or discernible provided a good idea of daily life.  The agora is 65 metres square, with solid remains of a round temple in the centre.   The 2^nd century CE, 234 metre-long stadium, with a capacity of 12,000 spectators is largely intact.  The Roman gates, through which we passed, and the large Hellenistic gates and horseshoe courtyard are most impressive, and the baths still contain evidence of the underground plumbing and heating.  A fascinating site.

After a pleasant couple of hours we headed back to our hotel for a rest, as we have a very long day tomorrow, leaving here at 7.30am for Cappadocia and not arriving there until late in the evening.  (For that reason, plus having to get up about 4.30am the next morning for our dawn balloon ride over the fairy chimneys, we will not have a blog tomorrow).

After a bite of lunch we headed down to the Mediterranean  - literally down; we took a lift from the hotel level to the bottom of the cliff and the water’s edge.  We had a quick swim as the first rain we have experienced in Turkey started to fall, then back up to our room for a bath and a rest. We will wander out this evening for a seafood dinner, then back for an early night.