TOUR CODE : TOUR CODE : ALN - 02 PORT : ALANYA TOUR DESTINATION : SIDE, PERGE, ASPENDOS TRANSPORTATION : BY A/C CAR OR MINIBUS DURATION OF TOUR : APPROXIMATELY 8 HOURS MEAL : LUNCH AT A LOCAL RESTAURANT

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR

Leaving from Alanya port, you will then drive on to Side, a seaside village amid the ruins of a great Roman city, before driving to Aspendos. Being the best preserved theatre in the world, Aspendos theatre was built in the 2nd century BC, by the roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and is known one of the three ancient theatres in the world with the best acoustics. The acoustics are so fine that performances are put on here without amplifier or microphones. Turkey's most outstanding acting groups perform ancient Greek plays during Drama Festival in early October. After lunch your last stop will be Perge, a city founded in the period of Greek immigration under the seers Kalchas and Mopsos after the Trojan War. Historically Perge is first mentioned in reports of alexander the Great's campaigns. The popularity of Artemis of Perge made her the dominant motif of coins and in art. Even in the Christian period the people of Perge continued to worship their Artemis, though now as the Virgin Mary, and saw their Apollo in Christ. Perge was one of the first cities to be converted to Christianity, which was certainly not unconnected with its famous cult of Artemis.

On their first visit in AD Paul and Barnabas were taken for Hermes and Zeus, and hospitably received as such. well before the coming of Alexander the Great in 333 BC. . Here too the magnificent, 15,000-seat Roman theatre can not fail to impress you. Lunch will be served at a restaurant on the coast.