September 21, 2025 - Perge, Aspendos, and Antalya Necropol Museum

Our group toured three sites today, starting with Perge. The UNESCO site is said to have been founded about 1000 BC, though other settlements may have actually existed here before that. The site was captured by the Persians and later by the armies of Alexander the Great around 333 BC. The Romans arrived around 188 BC and built most of the sites that you can see there now. The 15,000 seat theatre is currently closed due to renovations, but you can see it in the first picture below.
We walked along the outside of the stadium and then entered to see one of the largest stadiums in Asia Minor. It is 234 meters long and 54 meters wide and had a seating capacity between 15,000-20,000 people! There are 17 rows of seats that rest on top of 50 open vaults which we could see from the outside. Every third vault served as an entryway. The others were used as shops, selling things to the people who came to watch mainly athletic games, like the wrestling and boxing matches that took place here.

Continuing on, we passed through the gate and to the left where the main baths were located.

The Propylon (circular gate) was another monumental gate at the Roman Baths of Perge at the other end.
Part of the baths
The area below the room they used to heat the water for the baths.

We could see the main street with all the columns. The stones in the middles were part of the water system and sewage runoff.

More columns and walkways

Wendy


Fountain

Tobey, Wendy, and I took a right as we approached the fountain and walked around the outer walls of Perge. Along this street was another part of the water systems.

Back to the entrance, we boarded the bus and headed over to see the Roman theatre of Aspendos. It was built in the 2nd century and is one of the best preserved ancient theaters of the Greco-Roman world. As a matter of fact, they STILL use the theater today for musical productions and plays! The seating capacity is around 12,000! I couldn't get a good picture of the entire theatre, so I took a picture of the postcard I bought.

Bill climbed up halfway!

Shari did not ...

This is the stage area and a close up of the details in the architecture.

This stop was about 30 minutes because there weren't any other ruins to explore. From here we headed back into Antalya to visit the Antalya
The Antalya Necropolis Museum opened in 2022. It is Turkey's first museum of its kind and offers visitors a glimpse into 2,300 years of ancient burial traditions. The city was planning a new museum and in 2008, excavations began on the site. Accidentally, during the construction of the eastern garage, the ruins were found beneath the museum. As excavations continued, experts from the Antalya Museum uncovered nearly 1,000 graves, dating between the 3rd century B.C. and the 4th century A.D., along with numerous artifacts and skeletal remains. After three years of intensive excavation and restoration work, the site was handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to be transformed into the Necropolis Museum. It now stands as a symbol of Antalya's rich historical heritage. The museum stands in the heart of the city! It's amazing to think what else might be under the streets of Antalya.


We walked down the ramp and around the excavation site which they left to be part of the museum.

Inside there were several of the tombs and artifacts found on the site.

This was a small tomb for cremated remains.

This large vessel held the actual skeletal remains.

This was a tombstone.

It was a great visit and I'm glad we went there. I am STILL amazed at the "lucky" find.

Back at the hotel we had a few hours to rest and reorganize our things. Wendy, Bill, Shari, Tobey and I met at 5pm and walked around the streets near the hotel and then headed to the Old Town area for dinner. Wendy, Tobey, and I opted for a seafood restaurant and Bill and Shari headed off on their own.

We decided on the Ayar mehanesi restaurant with outdoor dining. Ilran helped us select rock sea bass and we got a half-fish which was still over 1kg and was more than enough for the three of us.

We were served bread (lots of it) and this fish with French fries, roasted potatoes, salad, and a delicious olive oil and pomegranate sauce. YUMMY! They gave us a nice plate of fresh fruit after dinner for dessert. We each had a juice or soft drink and our bill came to about $26 per person. ($3140TL total) Not bad!

The server plated our fish for us, deboning it and skinning it.

After dinner we took a casual stroll back to the hotel, stopping at the grocery store to buy some of the pomegranate syrup to bring home. It's wrapped carefully in the suitcase so it should arrive safely!

Tomorrow will be an early morning as we head to Cappadocia - over seven hours of driving time with a few stops on the way.