The article is a historical and cultural overview of the old city Perga in Pamphylia province of Asia Minor. Perga was a city founded a thousand years BC by the Greeks of Argos, about 20 kilometers from the Mediterranean. Existing vestiges of Perga, mostly revealed by archaeological excavations in 1956, along with the numerous statues exhibited at the Museum of Antalya, suggest a rich, prosperous, even luxurious city in the Hellenistic period. During his first missionary journey, the Apostle Paul passed twice through Perga of Pamphylia, the main city of the homonymous province on the southern coast of Asia Minor. When St. Paul went through Perga, the pagan Greco-Roman world was at its peak. Three centuries later, it will be completely dislocated by Christianity. Perga of Pamphylia, as well as other cities of Asia Minor, will eventually fall into the hands of the pagans.

Keywords: Perga of Pamphylia, Asia Minor, Antalya Museum, the Hellenistic period, Turkey

DAN CIACHIR