Wednesday, December 03, 2008
We had another full day, making our way toward the southern coast of Turkey.…the warmer and more luxurious coast of Turkey, much to Liz’s delight. That’s a welcome relief after our stay in “the best hotel in Egirdir,” which turned to be the only hotel in Egirdir and not a very clean one, at that. On the bright side, we awoke to (a Muslim call to prayer at 5am and) gorgeous lakeside views along a beautiful lake nestled in the Taurus mountains. From there, we began to wind our way over the mountains and down to the warmer coastal side -- looked just like Colorado; beautiful.
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Our first stop was at the ruins of a city called Perge. Perge was founded around 1000 BC, located about 20 kilometers inland to avoid the reach of roaming pirates in the region. The apostle Paul and Barnabas wrote in the book of Acts about their visit to Perge. Perge has a interesting collection of Roman baths, but an even more interesting part of the city is the market square that contains a large platform where slaves would have been displayed for auction. In the book of Romans, Paul writes to believers about being “slaves to sin” or “slaves to righteousness,” and it’s interesting to think he might have stood on this same platform and shared that perspective. Imagine being there to hear that – how firmly would that concept have resonated?!
While at Perge, Jackson shared some insights from the book of Acts. This is the city where Acts tells of Paul and John Mark – apparently having a major theological disagreement of some sort – parting ways. But later, toward the end of Paul’s life, Paul writes in a letter asking that John Mark come to visit him, “as he is useful to me in my ministry.” That tells us something about the redemptive nature of early Christianity – that John Mark could, even many years later, come to see the error of his views and reconcile with Paul, much like we reconcile with Christ.
After Perga, we traveled on to Aspendos. We had a great lunch along the river – fresh fish from a balcony that hangs-out over the river. Afterward, we stopped at a nearby aqueduct – again, no fences, not rules; just try not to bump into the foundation while you’re driving up to it.
That aqueduct fed the large city of Pega, where we saw one of the best preserved Roman theaters anywhere in the world. Not only does it have most of the seats and upper walls intact, but also the large back wall. The scale is mind boggling. Here’s an interesting tip. It’s easy to tell the population of any Roman city you visit. Just count the seats in the theater. The Romans always designed their theaters to hold 1/10th of the local population. Legend has it that Perga owes its amazing aqueduct and theater to the presiding official in the city, who offered his daughter’s hand to whoever completed the most amazing public work. The theater builder won. That makes sense to me…if you’re the king, having 15,000 people applaud you is a whole lot more thrilling than having 15,000 drinking water.
Afterward, we visited the coastal city of Side', before driving to Antalya for a night at a nice beach-side five-star hotel.
Side' and the rest of the Turkish coast is much more crowded than the interior of the country. However, they see virtually no Americans. They kept mistaking us for Polish or German. By “much more crowded,” I mean the sites we’re visiting are no longer completely deserted. We occasionally have to contend with – gasp – another visitor or two on-site. I love traveling in the off-season!
Published by Jace Mouse
on Wednesday, December 03, 2008 at 1:36 PM.
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Our first stop was at the ruins of a city called Perge. Perge was founded around 1000 BC, located about 20 kilometers inland to avoid the reach of roaming pirates in the region. The apostle Paul and Barnabas wrote in the book of Acts about their visit to Perge. Perge has a interesting collection of Roman baths, but an even more interesting part of the city is the market square that contains a large platform where slaves would have been displayed for auction. In the book of Romans, Paul writes to believers about being “slaves to sin” or “slaves to righteousness,” and it’s interesting to think he might have stood on this same platform and shared that perspective. Imagine being there to hear that – how firmly would that concept have resonated?!
While at Perge, Jackson shared some insights from the book of Acts. This is the city where Acts tells of Paul and John Mark – apparently having a major theological disagreement of some sort – parting ways. But later, toward the end of Paul’s life, Paul writes in a letter asking that John Mark come to visit him, “as he is useful to me in my ministry.” That tells us something about the redemptive nature of early Christianity – that John Mark could, even many years later, come to see the error of his views and reconcile with Paul, much like we reconcile with Christ.
After Perga, we traveled on to Aspendos. We had a great lunch along the river – fresh fish from a balcony that hangs-out over the river. Afterward, we stopped at a nearby aqueduct – again, no fences, not rules; just try not to bump into the foundation while you’re driving up to it.
That aqueduct fed the large city of Pega, where we saw one of the best preserved Roman theaters anywhere in the world. Not only does it have most of the seats and upper walls intact, but also the large back wall. The scale is mind boggling. Here’s an interesting tip. It’s easy to tell the population of any Roman city you visit. Just count the seats in the theater. The Romans always designed their theaters to hold 1/10th of the local population. Legend has it that Perga owes its amazing aqueduct and theater to the presiding official in the city, who offered his daughter’s hand to whoever completed the most amazing public work. The theater builder won. That makes sense to me…if you’re the king, having 15,000 people applaud you is a whole lot more thrilling than having 15,000 drinking water.
Afterward, we visited the coastal city of Side', before driving to Antalya for a night at a nice beach-side five-star hotel.
Side' and the rest of the Turkish coast is much more crowded than the interior of the country. However, they see virtually no Americans. They kept mistaking us for Polish or German. By “much more crowded,” I mean the sites we’re visiting are no longer completely deserted. We occasionally have to contend with – gasp – another visitor or two on-site. I love traveling in the off-season!
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