Perga

Perga Πέργη (Ancient Greek) Perge (Turkish)
Overview of Perga
Shown within Turkey
Location	Aksu, Antalya Province, Turkey
Region	Pamphylia
Coordinates	36°57′41″N 30°51′14″E
Type	Settlement
History
Founded	Approximately 1000 BC
Periods	Greek Dark Ages to Middle Ages
Cultures	Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Turkish
Associated with	Apollonius

The agora

The stadium

Perga (Greek: Πέργη Perge, Turkish: Perge) was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia and the capital of Pamphylia, now in Antalya province on the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Today it is a large site of ancient ruins 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Antalya on the coastal plain. Located there is an acropolis dating back to the Bronze Age.

History

Alexander's was followed by the Diadochi empire of the Seleucids.

In 46 A.D., according to the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul journeyed to Perga, from there continued on to Antiocheia in Pisidia, then returned to Perga where he delivered a sermon. Then he left the city and went to Attaleia.

In the first half of the fourth century, during the reign of Constantine the Great (324-337), Perga became an important centre of Christianity after it had become the official religion of the Roman Empire. The city retained its status as a Christian centre in the fifth and sixth centuries.

Ecclesiastical history

St. Paul the Apostle and his companion St. Barnabas, twice visited Perga as recorded in the biblical book, the Acts of the Apostles, during their first missionary journey, where they "preached the word" before heading for and sailing from Attalia (modern-day Antalya city), 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the southwest, to Antioch.

Perge remained a Roman Catholic titular metropolitan see in the former Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda. Paul and Barnabas came to Perge during their first missionary journey, but probably stayed there only a short time, and do not seem to have preached there; it was there that John Mark left Paul to return to Jerusalem. On his return from Pisidia Paul preached at Perge.

The Greek Notitiae episcopatuum mentions the city as metropolis of Pamphylia Secunda until the thirteenth century. Le Quien gives 11 bishops: Epidaurus, present at the Council of Ancyra (modern Ankara) in 312; Callicles at the First Council of Nicæa in 325; Berenianus, at Constantinople (426); Epiphanius at the Second Council of Ephesus (449), at the First Council of Chalcedon (451), and a signatory on the letter from the bishops of the province to Emperor Leo (458); Hilarianus, at the First Council of Constantinople in 536; Eulogius, at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553; Apergius, condemned as a Monothelite at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680; John, at the Trullan council in 692; Sisinnius Pastillas about 754, Constans, at the Council of Nicæa (787); John, at the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 869–70.

Remains

Perga is today an archaeological site and a tourist attraction, commonly called Eski Kalessi. Ancient Perge, one of the chief cities of Pamphylia, was situated between the Rivers Catarrhactes (Duden sou) and Cestrus (Ak sou), 60 stadia (about 11.1 kilometres (6.9 mi)) from the mouth of the latter; the site is in the modern Turkish village of Murtana on the Suridjik sou, a tributary of the Cestrus, formerly in the Ottoman vilayet of Koniah. Its ruins include a theatre, a palæstra, a temple of Artemis and two churches. The temple of Artemis was located outside the town.

Notables

• Perga's most celebrated ancient inhabitant, the mathematician Apollonius (c.262 BC – c.190 BC), lived and worked there. He wrote a series of eight books describing a family of curves known as conic sections, comprising the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola.

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  Pillars of the agora

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  Roman theatre

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  Palaestra in front of the Roman baths

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  Caldarium in the Roman baths

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  Hellenistic city gate

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  Nymphaeum

External links

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Perga". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• "Perge". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "^{article name needed}". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. 
• Perge Guide and Photo Album
• Perge photo

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Perge". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.