Day 9 - Perge, Side, Aspendos, and More

Acts 13:13 "From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem."
Acts 14:25 "and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia."

The ancient harbor of Antalya (Attalia in the Bible) was the closest port for a town just a few miles inland, Perga (the Turks call it Perge, PEHR-geh). Perga was a very prosperous Greco–Roman city with a theater, a stadium, magnificent gates, main street that had a water canal, a forum, a nymphaeum, Roman baths, and more. The remains left today are impressive.

In Perga, Paul had a falling out with John Mark that would create divisions in Paul’s next journey (Acts 15). There is also some evidence that Paul fell ill in Perga and that illness persisted for years (some suggest malaria).


Before we visit Perge, we’ll stop at a rural section of Antalya were Presbyterians had been reaching out in the past years. Kepez is a less advantaged area on the edge of the city. In the past years, Presbyterian mission teams have come here to work with neighborhood kids and run summer programs.

At Perga, we visit the impressive ruins and walk in the footsteps of Paul and Barnabas.

Next, we’ll head south and visit the well preserved Roman era theater of Aspendos. While there is no Biblical connection, Aspendos’s theater is reputed to be the best preserved first century Roman theater in existence and is a wonderful site to visit.
Finally, we’ll head to the sea side ruins of Side (SEE-deh) to view an impressive theater and other ruins along beautiful beach.
We’ll head back to Antalya for dinner and overnight (and possibly a hamam visit).

Thanks to Dr Carl Rasmussen (www.HolyLandPhotos.org) for some of the images in this post.