Perge Örenyeri
Although Perge isn’t beautifully situated like Termessos or an A-list attraction like Aspendos, it is an ideal place to get an overall impression of a Roman city. It's also only a 25-minute drive from central Antalya. The first thing you'll see is the splendid restored theater, followed by a stadium that is one of the best preserved in the ancient world. The vaulted chambers under the stadium bleachers held shops (marble inscriptions record the proprietors' names and businesses).
The rest of the site is about 1 km (½ mile) north. After parking just outside the old city walls, you'll enter near sturdy 3rd-century-BC garrison towers. Directly ahead is a fine, long-colonnaded avenue, unique for the water channel that ran down its center, starting at a fountain at the far end. This street was trodden by St. Paul as he passed by on his way to Pisidian Antioch in the mountains. Beside the entrance is the old agora; the slender, sun-bleached columns lining the street once supported a covered porch filled with shops. Opposite is the well-preserved bathhouse, similar to the hammams still popular in the region today. Follow the main street to the end, and then climb the hill for a literal overview of the site. The outskirts of Perge are rather overgrown, but the keen-eyed can hunt down several churches and a gymnasium.
