Perge, one of Pamphylia’s foremost cities, was founded on a wide plain between two hills 4 km. west of the Kestros (Aksu) river. Skylax, who lived in the fourth century B.C. and was the earliest of the ancient writers to mention Perge, states that the city was in Pamphylia. In the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles, the sentence “…when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perge in Pamphylia” suggests that Perge could be reached from the sea in ancient times. Just as the Kestros provides convenient communication today, the diver also played an important role in antiquity, making the land productive, and securing for Perge the possibility of sea trade. Despite its being some 12 km. inland from the sea, Perge by means of the Kestros, was able to benefit from the advantages of the sea as if it were a coastal city. Moreover, it was removed from the attacks of pirates invading by sea. In later copies of a third or fourth century map of the world, Perge is shown beside the principal road starting at Pergamum and ending at Side.
Archive for the Category "Antalya"
Phaselis
When you are driving on the new road parallel to the coast that offers you all the beauties of the Mediterranean, if you turn to Phaselis 35 kilometers before Antalya, this road in the woods will take you to Phaselis in the village of Tekirova. Although the nearly Beldibi Cave was labeled a prehistoric site, the establishment of the city of Phaselis doesn’t go earlier than the seventh century B.C. Phaselis was founded in 690 B.C. as a colony of Rhodes. It had three ports and was close to rich forests. In the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., the sea was the only source of income for Phaselis. At that time the Persians took control of Anatolia, and later Alexander defeated the Persians and conquered Phaselis. The people of Phaselis opened their doors to Alexander and made him their guest. Alexander received several ambassadors of from Pamphlia cities here in this city. He also conquered all the cities on the coast one-by-one and went on the way to Gordion. After the death of Alexander, from 309 to 197 B.C , the city was ruled by the Ptolemies of Egypt. It was later given to the Kingdom of Rhodes like other Lycian cities in the peace of Apamia. Phaselis stayed under the rule of Rhodes from 190 to 160. After 160 B.C., the city joined the Lycian Union under Roman sovereignty. Phaselis was attacked by pirates in first century B.C.. The city was ruled by a pirate named Zenekites for some time before the Romans defeated him. In 42 B.C. Brutus and the Romans took possession of the city. During the Byzantine era, Phaselis became the center of the episcopate. Because of its good ports, the city was attacked again by the third century B.C., and after that it lost its importance. It became even poorer with Arab raids. By the 11th century B.C., Phaselis could no longer survive. It was forgotten totally when the Seljuks came to value the ports of Alanya and Antalya more. In its early years, the city met its water needs with wells and cisterns. In Roman times, it brought water to the city via aqueducts from faraway places. They transported water from a spring to the north to a hill behind the Hadrian Agora and from here they distributed it to the city through channels. The main ruins of the city are found on two sides of the main avenue that connects the military port with the south port. There are three steps on the sidewalks on two sides of the avenue which is 125 meters long and 20-25 meters wide. The avenue forms a square in the middle and leads to the south port. The avenue is paved with regular stones and has sewage and drainage systems underneath it.
Selge
Selge was an important Pisidian city. It lies on the southern slopes of the Taurus in a naturally fortified spot difficult of access. It is reached by a forest road that climbs past cliffs, rivers, and small waterfalls, then passes over a Roman bridge. Thanks to its natural and historical treasures, it has been included in the Koprulu kalyon (Bridged Canyon) National Park. According to Strabo, Selge’s founder was Calchas, and it was later resettled by the Lacedaemonies (Spartans). The first settlement occurred during the Doric migrations which took place at the end of the second millennium B.C. and were connected with the Trojan War. The second settlement took place at the beginning of the seventh century B.C. together with the colonization of Rhodes. No inscription confirming this has come to light in the city, however and the idea that colonists would choose a place hard to spot from the coast and hidden in the mountains seems difficult to accept.
Selinus
3 km. on south of Gazipasa about 45 km. away from Alanya. The city is on a skirt of hill extending to the sea in elbow shape. There is acropolis of the city on the hill. There is cradle vaulted two room bath in the point where Selinus (Haci Musa) meets the sea. The columns of Agora on sea side have been lost but stylobat traces can still be seen. When moved toward east from Agora a building with apsis is seen. It is mostly probable that the building was established on a religious temple. There is monumental structure on the east of the church. The entrance door being the only Islamic structure of the city is surrounded with zigzags motives of Lescuklu in colourful manner. This ruin must have been of a mansion. The tomb structure in cemetery which is nekropol of the city indicates the customs of burying of Kilikya in the best way. Some parts of water canals of the region still survive at present. Roman Emperor Traianus died in the city while he was returning from Part mobilisation and his ashes were buried in Rome. The ruins are dating from Roman, Byzantine and Middle Ages.
SIDE
Side, ancient Pamphylia’s largest port, is situated on a small peninsula extending north-south into the sea. Strabo and Arrianos both record that Side was settled from Kyme, city in Aeolia, a region of western Anatolia. Most probably, this colonization occurred in the seventh century B.C.. According to Arrianos, when settlers from Kyme came to Side, they could not understand the dialect. After a short while, the influence of this indigenous tongue was so great that the newcomers forgot their native Greek and started using the language of Side. Excavations have revealed several inscriptions written in this language. The inscriptions, dating from the third and second centuries B.C., remain undeciphered, but testify that the local language was still use several centuries after colonization. Another object found in Side excavations, a basalt column base from the seventh century B.C. and attributable to the Neo Hittites, provides other evidence of the site’s early history. The word “side” is Anatolian in origin and means pomegranate.
The village of Kale was set on the ancient city of Simena. From inscriptions at this site, we can date the city to the ninth century B.C. The Simena fortress was used in the Middle Ages. There is a temple and a stoa connected to the temple inside this fortress. Here there is also a theater with seven row of seats carved into rocks for an audience of 300. This is the smallest theater that was built in a Lycian city. Above the rock tombs, there is a Roman wall formed by regular columns and above that there is another wall built in a later period. Here one can see traces of three different eras in a single place. The Turkish-style bath on the coast bears an inscription saying, “This is a gift to Emperor Titus from the people of Aperlai, its Parliament and all the cities of the Lycian Union.” There are many tombs in this area, including two house-type tombs. There is an epitaph written in the Lycian language on a house-type tomb to the north of Kale. When you look from Kale to Ucagiz, you can see what a naturally secure port this is.
Saint Nicholas, who is known worldwide as Santa Claus, was born in the ancient Lycian city of Patara, an important city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Around 300 AD, during a prosperous era for Patara, a rich wheat merchant had a son and named him Nicholas. His birth was accepted as a gift from the Heavens, the fruit of his parents prayers and wows and a savior for the poor people. It is believed that he performed miracles even as a young man. According to one legend, Nicholas was trapped under the wreckage of an old church and he survived it while his mother was crying and calling out for him. After the death of Nicholas father, he inherited a large estate which he decided to use to aid the poor. At around the same time, one of Patara’s wealthiest men fell into poverty to such an extent that he lacked the means to even put together dowries for his daughters. He felt so desperate that he was even considering selling his daughters when Nicholas decided to help them. One night he entered the their house secretly in order to remain anonymous and also to spare the family’s honor. While the family was asleep he dropped into the open window of the eldest daughter a bag of gold, enough to cover her dowry. In the morning, the daughter was overjoyed the find the gold which would save her from this desperate situation
Sillyon
This Pamphylian town, located between Perge and Aspendos, is situated on top of a flat-topped hill with almost vertical flanks. With its unusual physical formation, the hill is easily recognizable even from a distance. Strabo mentions in his writings that the city, some 40 stad or 7.2 km, inland, was visible from Perge. It is generally accepted that Sillyon, like other cities in Pamphylia, was founded after the Trojan War by the heroes Mopsos and Calchas. A statue base found in Sillyon bears Mopsos’ name.
The “Kalekapisi” neighborhood is where number of buildings of Seljuk origin are concentrated, and consist of the following: the Fluted (Yivli) Minaret, the Yivli Mosque, the Giyaseddin Keyhusrev Medrese, the Seljuk Medrese, the Mevlevi Han, the Zincirkiran Mausoleum and the Nigar Hatun Mausoleum. The Fluted Minaret is one of the first Muslim edifices in Antalya and is an 18th century work of the Seljuk period. Its base is of hewn stone and the trunk of bricks and turquoise colored tiles, and it has eight grooves. This minaret has now become the symbol of Antalya. It is 38 meters high and the top is reached by 90 steps. The Yivli Minaret Mosque is to the west of the Truncated Minaret. It is the oldest example of the multicupola construction in Anatolia; it is covered by six semi-spherical cupolas. It was built in 1372 by Balaban Tavsi and it can be seen that ancient ruins have been used in addition to other products in its construction. Giyaseddin Keyhusrev had the Medrese built in his name by Atabey Armagan in 1239. Facing the entrance of this building are the ruins of what is thought to be a 13th century Seljuk Medrese. The Zincirkiran Mausoleum is north of the Fluted Minaret in the upper garden and is of Seljuk design. However, because of the simplicity of the exterior, of having windows, and the tombs being at a lower level, it has the characteristics of the Ottoman Mausoleums. In was built in 1379 and contains three tombs. The Nigar Hatun Mausoleum is also north of the Fluted Minaret. It is of simple design and is hexagonal in shape. The Seljuk style mausoleum dates back to 1502. It is believed that the Mevlevis house to the west of the Zincirkiran Mausoleum was built by Aladdin Keykubat in 1225. Its inscription has been effaced, but the building has been repaired and is today used as a fine arts gallery.
Examination of the building reveals that it dates to the 2nd century A.D. and that in the 5th century A.D. a basilica was built on an ancient temple. The son of Bayazit II, Sultan Korkud, transformed it into a mosque and had a minaret added. When a fire broke out in the 19th century the timber section of the minaret was burnt out, and since then it has been called the “truncated minaret”. It is to this day in a state of disrepair and does not function as a mosque, but as visitors can see ancient, Byzantine and Seljuk remains all at one time, it still serves as an unusually interesting sight.
