Stargazers gather to watch the Perseid meteor shower on top of Mount Nemrut in south-eastern Turkey. All photos: AP
Hundreds spent the night at the Unesco World Heritage Site for the annual meteor show that stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift–Tuttle.
Perched at an altitude of 2,150 metres, the statues are part of a temple and tomb complex that King Antiochus I of the ancient Commagene kingdom built as a monument to himself.
A 50-metre-high man-made mound — the presumed tomb of Antiochus — sets the background.
The ancient site that includes 10-metre-high, seated statues of Antiochus surrounded by ancient Gods including Zeus and Apollo, was discovered in 1881 by a German engineer.
Excavations began there in the 1950s.
Son of the founder of the Commagene kingdom, Antiochus reigned between 64 and 38 BC, until he was deposed by the Romans.
The kingdom spanned an area from the eastern edge of the Taurus mountains to the Euphrates River.
People climb up to the ancient site to see jaw-dropping sunrises and sunsets.
The meteor shower coincided this year with a full moon, which dimmed the meteors but provided its own beauty for those watching.
