Perge, less than twenty kilometers northeast of Antalya
In spite of the
excavations carried out in the 1980s and 1990s, the theater remained off limits
as it was dangerous to approach the weak and crumbling walls. It was even very
difficult and almost impossible to simply walk around its outer limits because
of the luxuriant and dense bushes that grows around it.
The restoration
plans sounds very promising as the overall local economy will benefit from it
now that the number of visitors to Perge
have drastically decreased during the last decennium.
The Perge
theater is a typical Roman construction counting 19 tiers of seats in its lower
part and 23 tiers in the upper section. Most of the stage is still standing and
its restoration would certain help to mentally place the statues from the
museum back into their appropriate niches. As is so often the case, the theater
has been adapted to host animal and gladiator fights.
Let’s hope that restoration
work will start soon for the theater will certainly contribute to the beauty of
the site and the wealth Perge
knew in its heyday. We should not forget that this is where the bigger than
life-size statue of Alexander
the Great (now in the museum) once stood in all its glory!
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