DAILY ASPENDOS-PERGE-SIDE- WATERFALL TOUR

Details

Visits

•Aspendos

•Side

•Perge

•Kursunlu Waterfalls

Details

        Aspendos is famous for its best-preserved theater of antiquity built in the 2nd C. AD with a capacity of 15, 000 people. Still used today, for performances and festivals, the theater's galleries, stage decorations and acoustics all testify to its architect Xenon's success. Next to the stage, there is a small room which is used as a small museum where you can see some of the masks and clay tickets. Nearby stand the remains of a basilica, agora and one of the largest aqueducts in Anatolia. Here you can visit also the acropolis of the city with a great view of the river.
Perge was settled by the Hittites around 1500 B. C. Kestros (Aksu) river, which runs near acropolis, made Perge like a port because it was possible to navigate. An important trade route starting from Side run through Perge. It is also famous by the fact that when St. Paul started his journeys, he visited Perge in 46 A. D. and preached his first sermon here. That's why it became an important city for the Christians during Byzantine period.
      To understand the importance of the city, it is necessary to visit its remains. You can see the ruins of the antique theater (capacity 12, 000 people), its stage has marble relieves depicting the life of Dionysos; a stadium, which is in a shape of "U" for 12, 000 people; remains of the first church built in Perge, an agora, which has dimensions of 76x76 m. and it's surrounded by Corinthian columns, in the middle of it there is a round temple of Tyche (2nd century A. D. ); a basilica - another structure from Christian Era with three entrances, a good example of a Roman Bath in the southern part of the city, and Hellenistic gates which later were converted into a court of honor by Plancia Magna.
      Side is the farthest city in the east of historical Pamphylia. Situated on a peninsula about 1000 m long and 400 m. wide, it fulfilled its duty as a commercial port. Naturally, Side used to be one of the most important trade centers in the antiquity and now it is one of the most popular holiday resort in Turkey. According to Strabon, the ancient geographer, Side was first established in the 7 th C B.C. as a trade colony of the Aegean city Kyme near Izmir But the merchants took up the local language. Side has the name "Side" that meant pomegranate, the fruit symbolizing abundance and fertility. Like the other Pamphylian cities in general, Side was ruled by Lydia in the sixth C. B.C. and Persia after 547 B.C. The coins minted in here prove that Side had at least an internal independence. Alexander the Great conquered Side, in the first year of the great campaign on Asia in 334 B. C. and was introduced to Hellenistic culture.
      Kursunlu Waterfalls: The Kursunlu is a waterfall which is reduced to a mere trickle in the summer months. It is located 19 km from Antalya at the end of a 7 km road branching off to the north of the Antalya-Serik-Alanya highway at a point 12 km from Antalya. The waterfall is on one of the tributaries of the Aksu river and its situation in the midst of a pine forest is of quite exceptional beauty. The countryside around the water forms a lovely picnic and pleasure spot only twenty minutes from the centre of the city of Antalya.

• What's included?
  Included Services:

  •English Speaking Guide 

  •Lunch in the local restaurant

  •All sightseeing mentioned in the itinerary

  •Transfer service from centrally located Antalya Hotels 

  •Land transportation by air-conditioned non-smoking vehicle
• Exclusions
  Excluded Services:

  •Admission fees to attractions
• Price and dates
• Please note

  -Wear comfortable shoes

  -For Summer time a hat is good (We can also provide you with Uv sun protection umbrellas )

  -A bottle of water is recommended

  -Children under 8 years old do not require entry tickets, if you show passports to the ticket Office