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Description
Perga or Perge (Greek : Πέργη Perge, Turkish : Perge) was an ancient Anatolian city in modern Turkey, once the capital of Pamphylia Secunda , now in Antalya province on the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey . Today it is a large site of ancient ruins 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Antalya on the coastal plain. Located there is an acropolis dating back to the Bronze Age .[1]
History[edit ]
Perga was an ancient and important city of Pamphylia, between the rivers Catarrhactes and Cestrus .[2] It was renowned for the worship ofArtemis , whose temple stood on a hill outside the town, and in whose honour annual festivals were celebrated.[3] The coins of Perge represent both the goddess and her temple. Alexander the Great occupied Perge with a part of his army after quitting Phaselis , between which two towns the road is described as long and difficult.[4]
Alexander's rule was followed by the Diadochi empire of the Seleucids .
In 46 A.D., according to the Acts of the Apostles , St. Paul journeyed to Perga, from there continued on to Antiocheia in Pisidia, then returned to Perga where he preached the word of God (Acts 14:25). Then he left the city and went to Attaleia.[5]
In the first half of the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine the Great (324-337), Perga became an important centre of Christianity, which soon became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The city retained its status as a Christian centre in the 5th and 6th centuries.
Ecclesiastical history[edit ]
St. Paul the Apostle and his companion St. Barnabas , twice visited Perga as recorded in the biblical book, the Acts of the Apostles,[6] during their first missionary journey, where they "preached the word"[7] before heading for and sailing from Attalia (modern-day Antalya city), 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the southwest, to Antioch.
Paul and Barnabas came to Perge during their first missionary journey, but probably stayed there only a short time, and do not seem to have preached there;[8] it was there that John Mark left Paul to return to Jerusalem. On his return from Pisidia Paul preached at Perge.[9]
St. Matrona of Perge of the 6th century was a female saint known for temporarily cross-dressing to avoid her abusive husband.[10] She also is known for opposing the Monophysite policy of the emperor Anastasios I .[11] Matrona hid in the monastery of St. Bassion as the enuch Babylos. Once revealed, she was sent to a woman’s monastery where she was head of the convent. She was famous for her miraculous gift of healing. She went on to found a nunnery in Constantipole. St Matrona died at the age of 100. Her life was told through a vita prima whose author and exact time period remains a mystery.[12]
The Greek Notitiae episcopatuum mentions the city as metropolis of Pamphylia Secunda until the 13th century. Le Quien [13] gives the names of 11 of its bishops: Epidaurus, present at the Council of Ancyra in 312; Callicles at the First Council of Nicaea in 325; Berenianus, at Constantinople (426); Epiphanius at the Second Council of Ephesus (449), at the First Council of Chalcedon (451), and a signatory of the letter from the bishops of the province to Emperor Leo (458); Hilarianus, at a council at Constantinople in 536; Eulogius, at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553; Apergius, condemned as a Monothelite at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680; John, at the Trullan council in 692; Sisinnius Pastillas about 754 (aniconoclast who was condemned at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787); Constans, at the same council of that condemned his predecessor; John, at the Council of Constantinople of 869–70 .
No longer a residential, the bishopric is included in the Catholic Church 's list of titular sees .[14]
Remains[edit ]
Perga is today an archaeological site and a tourist attraction. Ancient Perge, one of the chief cities of Pamphylia, was situated between the Rivers Catarrhactes (Düden Nehri) and Cestrus (Aksu) , 60 stadia (about 11.1 kilometres (6.9 mi)) from the mouth of the latter; the site is in the modern Turkish village of Murtana on the Suridjik sou, a tributary of the Cestrus, formerly in the Ottoman vilayet of Konya . Its ruins include a theatre, apalæstra , a temple of Artemis and two churches. The temple of Artemis was located outside the town.
Notables[edit ]
Perga's most celebrated ancient inhabitant, the mathematician Apollonius (c.262 BC – c.190 BC), lived and worked there. He wrote a series of eight books describing a family of curves known as conic sections , comprising the circle , ellipse , parabola , and hyperbola .[15

Description
Perga or Perge (Greek : Πέργη Perge, Turkish : Perge) was an ancient Anatolian city in modern Turkey, once the capital of Pamphylia Secunda , now in Antalya province on the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey . Today it is a large site of ancient ruins 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Antalya on the coastal plain. Located there is an acropolis dating back to the Bronze Age .[1]
History[edit ]
Perga was an ancient and important city of Pamphylia, between the rivers Catarrhactes and Cestrus .[2] It was renowned for the worship ofArtemis , whose temple stood on a hill outside the town, and in whose honour annual festivals were celebrated.[3] The coins of Perge represent both the goddess and her temple. Alexander the Great occupied Perge with a part of his army after quitting Phaselis , between which two towns the road is described as long and difficult.[4]
Alexander's rule was followed by the Diadochi empire of the Seleucids .
In 46 A.D., according to the Acts of the Apostles , St. Paul journeyed to Perga, from there continued on to Antiocheia in Pisidia, then returned to Perga where he preached the word of God (Acts 14:25). Then he left the city and went to Attaleia.[5]
In the first half of the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine the Great (324-337), Perga became an important centre of Christianity, which soon became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The city retained its status as a Christian centre in the 5th and 6th centuries.
Ecclesiastical history[edit ]
St. Paul the Apostle and his companion St. Barnabas , twice visited Perga as recorded in the biblical book, the Acts of the Apostles,[6] during their first missionary journey, where they "preached the word"[7] before heading for and sailing from Attalia (modern-day Antalya city), 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the southwest, to Antioch.
Paul and Barnabas came to Perge during their first missionary journey, but probably stayed there only a short time, and do not seem to have preached there;[8] it was there that John Mark left Paul to return to Jerusalem. On his return from Pisidia Paul preached at Perge.[9]
St. Matrona of Perge of the 6th century was a female saint known for temporarily cross-dressing to avoid her abusive husband.[10] She also is known for opposing the Monophysite policy of the emperor Anastasios I .[11] Matrona hid in the monastery of St. Bassion as the enuch Babylos. Once revealed, she was sent to a woman’s monastery where she was head of the convent. She was famous for her miraculous gift of healing. She went on to found a nunnery in Constantipole. St Matrona died at the age of 100. Her life was told through a vita prima whose author and exact time period remains a mystery.[12]
The Greek Notitiae episcopatuum mentions the city as metropolis of Pamphylia Secunda until the 13th century. Le Quien [13] gives the names of 11 of its bishops: Epidaurus, present at the Council of Ancyra in 312; Callicles at the First Council of Nicaea in 325; Berenianus, at Constantinople (426); Epiphanius at the Second Council of Ephesus (449), at the First Council of Chalcedon (451), and a signatory of the letter from the bishops of the province to Emperor Leo (458); Hilarianus, at a council at Constantinople in 536; Eulogius, at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553; Apergius, condemned as a Monothelite at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680; John, at the Trullan council in 692; Sisinnius Pastillas about 754 (aniconoclast who was condemned at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787); Constans, at the same council of that condemned his predecessor; John, at the Council of Constantinople of 869–70 .
No longer a residential, the bishopric is included in the Catholic Church 's list of titular sees .[14]
Remains[edit ]
Perga is today an archaeological site and a tourist attraction. Ancient Perge, one of the chief cities of Pamphylia, was situated between the Rivers Catarrhactes (Düden Nehri) and Cestrus (Aksu) , 60 stadia (about 11.1 kilometres (6.9 mi)) from the mouth of the latter; the site is in the modern Turkish village of Murtana on the Suridjik sou, a tributary of the Cestrus, formerly in the Ottoman vilayet of Konya . Its ruins include a theatre, apalæstra , a temple of Artemis and two churches. The temple of Artemis was located outside the town.
Notables[edit ]
Perga's most celebrated ancient inhabitant, the mathematician Apollonius (c.262 BC – c.190 BC), lived and worked there. He wrote a series of eight books describing a family of curves known as conic sections , comprising the circle , ellipse , parabola , and hyperbola .[15