Antalya, Turkey

After our short night, we flew from Istanbuhl to Antalya, (see map) then took the bus to nearby Perge.  In the afternoon, we took a bus back to Antalya to our hotel.

Our hotel was located close to this old Roman harbour pictured above that Paul would have sailed into. You would never know that it is in the center of the sprawling city of Antalya, the 8th largest city in Turkey!

This part of town is just fun!  Charming little streets and picturesque old houses.   

After checking into the hotel, we decided to walk down to the harbour.

What is that in the courtyard?

Cinderella and her pumpkin!

Of course.  Why not!

Site seeing boats were headed out to sea.

I wanted to go out on a boat ride!  Al wasn't so sure.  But we found 5 others who also wanted to do that too.  Lilly was able to negotiate a less expensive ride for all of us.

 The boat headed out of the harbour and then began to head for this cliff.  What was he doing?

He sailed the boat right into a very small cave.
He did a great job of scaring us just a little!

look closely at that black dot on the cliff

We saw several kids, besides this girl, 

climbing down the cliffs to sneak a smoke.

We encountered lots of smoking in Turkey.

We aren't used to that in the States so much anymore.

Ancient castle tower

The boat we were on followed the shoreline.

We saw several couples enjoying eachother on the cliffs

The boat ride lasted about 45 minutes.  And I LOVED it!

On the way back to the hotel, we passed several shops that were selling these pretty dresses.  I had to take pictures for my granddaughter!

We got back in time for dinner.   

While we were eating, we could hear some singing.

We think it was the national anthem of Turkey.

Following dinner, the dancing began.

Mind you, we got 2 hours sleep last night.  

And maybe a cat nap on the bus.  

The dancing lasted until after midnight.

And our room was right above this group.

Needless to say, it was another short night.

But who's complaining?

We are having an adventure!

Perge, Turkey

This is the gate Paul would have passed through upon entering Perge.

Not much is said about Perge (or Perga) in the Bible.

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia.  And John left them and returned to Jerusalem but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.  

Acts 13:13

Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.  And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.  

Acts 14:25

These are the arches that enter into the Roman stadium.
Olympic type races and horse races were held here.

The theatre

Perge is reknown for its worship of Artemis, whose temple stood on a hill outside the town.
The coins of Perge represent their goddess and her temple.
The Hittites first settled Perge in 2000 BC.  Greeks took it over and then the Romans.
The city had 50,000-100,000 people in the 1st - 3rd century.

The Roman baths

There were cold baths, warm baths and hot baths.  Also steam baths.
There was a furnace room and the hot air was piped under the floor to the rooms.
The room closest to the furnace was the hot baths.
Ingenious for 2,000 years ago I'd say!

          Underground chambers for heating system.

The agora, the marketplace of the day.

Paul was going to his own "backyard" of his day.  Tarsus was similar in culture.  He is quite familiar with the Jewish people in this Gentile territory.  He would understand the Jewish culture but also the Romans.  He was ideally suited to preach the Gospel.

Interesting birds!

  

 

We enjoyed getting to know Lilli.  She is originally from South Africa and as a child lived on a sailboat and sailed the world with her family.  She is very friendly and each day the question was "What new friend will Lilli make today?"

The water system of the Romans that ran through the center of the city.

Chariots left ruts in the pavement.

Belgin showed us that they have covered the mosaic tiles with fabric and rocks to protect them.

 After exploring, it was time for "class".  We found some shade.

Jim, my friend Sarah's brother, was our main teacher.
We went to Israel with him too.

Along with Jim, we were privileged to also learn from 2 professors, Don and Tim.