An important city of ancient Pamphylian, Perge (18 km from Antalya) was originally settled by the Hittites around 1500 BC St. Paul preached some of his first sermons here. The theater's stage has finely carved marble relieves; other carvings from around the city are displayed in the stadium. Amateur towers, a long colonnaded road once paved with mosaics and lined with shops, a large agora, the public baths and a gymnasium. The name Perge comes from Anatolian dialect; nonetheless, in ancient times the townsmen believed that it had been founded by Greek heroes after the siege of Troy. Perge is also know because it is the birth-place of the mathematician Apollonius, author of a famous treatise on geometry. To understand the importance of the city it is necessary to visit its remains. You can see the ruins of the antique theatre (capacity 12,000 people), its stage has marble reliefs about life of Dionysos a stadium, which is in a shape of "U" for 12,000 people; remains of the first church built in Perge, an agora, which has dimensions of 76x76 m. and it's surrounded by Corinthian colums, in the middle of it there is a round temple of Tyche (2nd century A.D.); a basilica - another structure from Christian Era with three entrances, a good example of a Roman Bath in the southern part of the city, and Hellenistic gates which later were converted into a court of honor by Plancia Magna. This city produced many famous personalities; among them we can mention Varus, the philosopher, the physcician Asklepiades, the famous mathematician Apollonius and female roman ruler of the city Plancia Magna.