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East of Antalya lies an area known in ancient times as Pamphylia , a remote region that was home to four great cities - Perge, Sillyon, Aspendos and Side. PERGE is about 15km east of Antalya, reachable by taking a dolmus to the village of Aksu on the main eastbound road, from where it's a fifteen-minute walk to the site (daily: summer 8.30am-7pm; winter 8am-5pm; $6, stadium free). Perge was founded around 1000 BC and is an enticing spot nowadays, the ruins expansive and impressive. Just beyond the site entrance, the theatre (closed) was originally constructed by the Greeks but substantially altered by the Romans in the second century AD; built into the side of a hill, it could accommodate 14,000 people on 42 seating levels. Northeast of here is Perge's massive horseshoe-shaped stadium , the largest in Asia Minor and excellently preserved. East of the stadium is the city proper, marked by a cluster of souvenir and soft drinks stands. Just in front of the outer gates is the tomb of Plancia Magna , a benefactress of the city, whose name appears later on a number of inscriptions. Inside is a Byzantine basilica , beyond which lies the fourth-century AD agora ; southwest are some Roman baths , a couple of whose pools have been exposed. At the northwest corner of the agora is Perge's Hellenistic Gate , with its two mighty circular towers, the only building to have survived from the period. Behind, there's a 300m-long colonnaded street, with a water channel running down the middle and shells of shops on either side. ASPENDOS (daily: summer 7.30am-7.30pm; winter 8am-5.30pm; $7) lies off the main road close to the villages of Serik and Belkis, accessible from Antalya by regular dolmuS during summer. The principal feature is the well-preserved theatre , built in the second century AD to a Roman design, with an elaborate stage behind which the scenery could be lowered. The stage, auditorium and arcade above are all intact, and what you see today is pretty much what the spectators saw during the theatre's heyday - a state of preservation due in part to Ataturk, who after a visit declared that it should be preserved and used for performances rather than as a museum - although during the Selcuk period it saw use as a kervanseray , and restoration work from that period (plasterwork decorated with red zigzags) is visible over the stage.
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