Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Need to Know
TOP TIP
Take the cable car up to the Acropolis, and walk back down.
SHUTTLE
Until 7pm, free buses connect Bergama's otogar and town centre.
For further cov-
erage,
Click here
Bergama (Pergamum) Don't
Miss List
BY ERSIN KIRMAZ, OWNER OF ODYSSEY GUESTHOUSE
1 ACROPOLIS
Remains discovered in the citadel (
Click here
)
date back millennia, but the first im-
portant buildings built here were the Temple of Athena and the 10,000-seat theatre.
The city walls reached their largest size during the reign of Eumenes II (197-159 BC),
who also built the Altar of Zeus, the library with 200,000 books and the Great Palace.
In the Middle City were sacred areas dedicated to the goddesses Hera and Demeter, the
Asclepius temple of healing, gymnasiums and the water supply. Another significant ru-
in is the Temple of Trajan, built by the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian.
2 ASCLEPION
With galleries, a 3500-seat theatre, a cult prayer room, a library and Asclepius temple,
the Asclepion (
Click here
) was an important health centre during the Roman period.
The treatments here included psychotherapy, physical therapy, drinking sacred water,
fasting, water and mud baths, oils and creams, and eating healthy vegetables.
3 RED BASILICA
Owing to the importance of Egyptian gods in the Roman Empire, Hadrian built this
temple to Serapis and Isis. During the early Byzantine period, additions were made and
the temple became one of Anatolia's first churches.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search