Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
KEVIN LANG/ALAMY ©
Don't Miss
Acropolis
These stunning hilltop ruins are most easily reached on a five-minute cable car (one way " 4) ride from Bergama.
The road up here winds 5km from the Red Basilica to a car park ( " 3) at the top, with souvenir and refreshment
stands nearby. A short cut shaves a couple of kilometres from the walk up; opposite the Red Basilica, take Mahmut
Şevket Paşa Sokak, the narrow lane between Aklar Gıda groceries and a carpet shop, which leads to the Lower
Agora.
The ruins include the library , one of the ancient world's greatest repositories of knowledge, and the marble-
columned Temple of Trajan (pictured). Built during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, and used to worship them as
well as Zeus, the temple is the only Roman structure surviving here.
Descend through a tunnel to the vertigo-inducing, 10,000-seat theatre . Its builders took advantage of the spec-
tacular view, and conserved precious space on the hilltop, by building the impressive and unusual theatre into the
hillside. Hellenistic theatres are usually wider and rounder; Pergamum's hillside location made rounding impossible,
so its height was increased instead.
Above the stage is the ruined Temple of Dionysus ; below the theatre is the base of the Altar of Zeus , which
was originally covered with friezes depicting Olympian gods battling their subterranean foes.
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