The Penn Stater Magazine

The Ruins Keep Getting Better

May 17, 2011 at 11:17 am Tina Hay Leave a comment

Jeff Laack '80 and wife Eileen at the theatre at Aspendos.

We’ve seen so many ancient Lycian, Greek, and Roman ruins on our Legendary Turkey trip that, honestly, they’re starting to run together in our minds. But the ones at Perge and Aspendos, both near Antalya, stand out.

At ancient Perge (sometimes spelled Perga) we strolled around the ruins of an entire city, complete with an agora, a main street, market shops, and an extensive Roman bath with a sophisticated, under-the-floor heating system.

The earliest written documents suggest there was a city on the site as early as the 13th century B.C., which is a little amazing when you think about it, but Perge is probably more known to historians as part of the territory occupied by Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C. It’s also said that the Apostle Paul once walked the streets of Perge.

Carol Buettger '58 at the baths at ancient Perge.

Most of the ruins you see today date to the time when Perge was a city in the Roman empire, around the second century A.D. That’s also when it was home to a highly regarded school for marble sculptors.

Archaeologists have recovered an unbelievable collection of marble statues and busts from Perge; those are the ones we saw at the Antalya Museum.

At Aspendos the main attraction is the theatre, said to be the best preserved of any Roman theatre anywhere. It’s pretty impressive, both in its size and in its physical condition. It’s actually still used for concerts today—opera and classical music, mostly. Some of us hiked up the stone steps to the top of the theatre for a sweet view.

As we walked into the museum shop at Aspendos—and practically all of the ruins we’ve visited have museum shops—we discovered a mother cat and two kittens living inside the steps. Stray dogs and cats are everywhere in Turkey, and we never miss a chance to stop and photograph them. Here’s a photo of one of the kittens.

I’ve posted more photos from Perge and Aspendos (including another photo of the kitty) at the Alumni Association’s Facebook page.

Tina Hay, editor

Entry filed under: Alumni Association, Penn State alumni. Tags: Aspendos, Legendary Turkey, Perge.