Monday we left the ship early and joined a Silversea tour to Perge and Aspendos. Perge was once a major city in Roman and Byzantine times, but there are remains of human civilizations there dating back to the 12th century BC (BCE). These have included the Hittites, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Seljuks. The most impressive complex we saw was the Roman baths, which have been mostly excavated and are very well preserved; it fills one with awe standing there, visiting the many rooms and imagining the pampered life of a Roman aristocrat. Also very impressive, but unfortunately not yet open to visitors are the theatre and stadium which are undergoing restoration.
Ruins of Roman Bath at Perge
Next we visited the very impressive theatre which is past of the historic site of Aspendos. The city was an important trading centre in Roman times, located along the silk route, where spices and silks were brought from Asia to markets in Europe. The most impressive structure is a beautifully preserved Roman amphitheatre which was built around 160 AD (CE). It held 25,000 people and concerts are still held there today. After the Romans withdrew in the 6th or 7th centuries, the theatre was used by the Seljuks as a stopover location for their trading caravans. This continuous use is a major reason why the theatre is so well preserved. Ataturk visited the theatre after the Turkish republic was formed and decreed that such a magnificent structure must be fully protected for enjoyment by future generations. We had an interesting experience with guides here. Our guide gave us good general information, but when she was finished, we started to listen to another guide who was immensely more knowledgeable and as a result we learned much more about the theatre and its use by the Romans.
Roman Theatre at Aspendos
After the tour, we visited the old section of Antalya. Antalya is the major city in the region with a population of over 1 million. Like Alanya, it is also a major resort city. People who we talked to who were on a guided walking tour of the old city enjoyed it, but Antalya was our least favourite place of all those we visited in Turkey, mostly because of the extremely aggressive shop vendors and sellers of boat tours.
Dinner Monday night was again our favourite hot rocks experience on the pool deck.