The colonnaded street
Three hundred metres of columns with a water channel down the middle, one of the finest Roman walks on the coast.
About eighteen kilometres east of Antalya you can walk down a 300-metre Roman street between two rows of columns, with a water channel running down the middle that cooled the city two thousand years ago. That street is the heart of Perge, and it is what makes the site bigger and more convincing than most ruins on Turkey's Mediterranean coast: a whole town with its gates, squares and baths, not a lone theatre standing in a field. The walk starts at the Hellenistic gate with its two round towers, the oldest thing still standing, then the square agora, the Roman baths where floors and underfloor heating ducts are still visible, and the long street up to the great fountain at the foot of the acropolis. The stadium held 12,000 and is one of the best preserved in Anatolia; climb to the top row. The 14,000-seat theatre, however, is closed for restoration until further notice and can only be seen from outside, so do not plan the trip around it. The marble statues dug up here, life-size emperors and gods and the city's great benefactress Plancia Magna among them, are not at Perge but in the Antalya Museum back in town. The two visits complete each other, stones here and faces there, and they fit comfortably into one day. Getting there is easiest by car or taxi, about 25 to 30 minutes from central Antalya, or on the AntRay tram to the Aksu stop followed by a two-kilometre walk or a short taxi. The ground is flat and the main street is fine for a pushchair, but shade is almost nonexistent; in July and August the site becomes punishing after ten in the morning, so arrive at opening or two hours before sunset with water and hats. Spring and autumn are when Perge is at its best; winter is quiet and pleasant, though hours are shorter.
Three hundred metres of columns with a water channel down the middle, one of the finest Roman walks on the coast.
Seating for 12,000 and rarely this well preserved; climb to the top row.
Two round towers that predate the Romans by centuries, the oldest thing you will see here.
Barbaros Mah., Perge Cad., Aksu, Antalya
If you want a city to walk through and understand how Roman life worked, choose Perge, especially with children since the ground is flat. Aspendos is essentially one spectacular theatre with modest ruins around it, and with Perge's own theatre closed for restoration, anyone who wants a theatre should go there. Both in half a day by car is perfectly doable.
Yes, provided you are at the gate at 08:00 and done by about 10:30. There is almost no shade, and with small children in midday heat nobody will enjoy it. The alternative is the last two hours before the 20:00 closing, when the heat eases and the light is far better for photos.
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