Perge - Ruins

The ruins

The lower town at Perge, once encircled by walls fortified with towers, is bounded to the north by a 50m/165ft hill on which the acropolis was built. Here stood the city's oldest buildings. At the southeast corner of the plateau are some remains which it is thought may be those of the famous Temple of Artemis to which Strabo refers. This however is far from certain.

The site, parts of which are marshy, is entered through a gate in the walls, immediately beyond which are the remains of two round towers belonging to a gateway of the Hellenistic period. To the right of these towers lies the relatively small agora, with a circular temple. Across the center of the site runs a colonnaded street 20m/65ft wide (many columns re-erected), which is continued at the foot of the acropolis by two branches leading east and west. Little is known of the buildings on either side of the colonnaded street. Remains of baths and of Byzantine churches have been identified at various points. On the northwest of the site are the excavated remains of the palace of Gaius Julius Cornutus.

To the southwest, outside the walls of the lower town, is the well-preserved Roman stadium (234m/256yds long by 34m/37yds across, seating for 12,000) built in the second century A.D. The south end of the stadium was used for the gladitorial combats which were then popular. Under the seating on the east side are 30 rooms, originally used as shops.

200m/220yds farther southwest, built into the hillside, is the theater, which dates from the third century A.D. Constructed of travertine and faced with marble, it has 40 rows of seating, with a gangway between the upper and lower tiers, and could accommodate an audience of 13,000. Also outside the lower town are a number of sizable necropolises.