Pergamum (Bergama)

Travel Stories - Turkey

introduction

Sitting in the bus driving more south along the shores of the Aegean Sea, this is beginning to look more like the Turkey I know from the holiday brochures. A blue sea, rugged rocks and spruce bushes. It is one o'clock in the afternoon when I arrive in the city that has about 50,000 inhabitants. Looking out of the window I see a modern city (Bergama) that in the time between Alexander the Great and the Romans has been one of the most powerful and largest kingdoms in the entire Middle East.

One of Alexander's generals was assigned this part of the empire, and later one of his successors would merge it into the great Roman Empire as a province. There seem to be beautiful sites outside the city but I have to find a hostel first. Actually, I'm tired of sitting in the bus for hourse and it's getting hot - I decide to take a taxi to the center and there suppose to be some options for me for a hostel. Looking out of the window, the distance is really short and I could have walked easily - it is a busy shopping street of about a kilometer.

Near the fruit market in a quiet street I find a hostel with a very simple room and book for two nights. In the afternoon, I decide to walk through the bazaar of the city. It is a really nice Turkish bazaar without tourists where Turkish men sit under parasols and canopy’s against the sun with baskets of fruit in front of them. Some have wooden stalls and it is wonderful to be in the real Turkey, in the sun and enjoying the colors and smells around me.

Kingdom of Pergamon

I get up early - partly because I went to bed early but also because I want to look at the large archaeological sites outside the center today, knowing that it can turn out to be very hot today. I set off with a small bag with two bottles of water. I decided to go to the big red Basilica first that is not far from my hostel. Of course you can also pay entrance and look inside, but I decide to walk around it because you already see enough in this way and save some money.

The immense building was once a temple in the 2nd century BC. built in honor of three Egyptian Gods. It was too big for the Christians to turn it into a church and they decided to build a church inside the temple. The entire centerpiece is open and it seems as if it has been chopped into two pieces by a blunt ax. The river-stream of the city flows happily under the building as two large pipes have been made through which the water can flow.

After I circled the whole building I really have to go to my next sight, otherwise I lose too much time. I walk out of town where the sun is already starting to beat down on my skin. It is dusty here and of course there is no footpath - I walk in the dust along the road and have to protect my face when a truck rushes by. People here find it odd to see a "rich" white man walking down the road - why does not he just take a taxi? The road gently winds up and up and of course the Acropolis that I am looking for is on top of the hill.

I walk between the remnants of the old city wall and have read that if you climb the steep hill here you will escape the entrance hall and do not have to pay any money. I see a curve in the distance and look around me if someone sees it - then I climb up the hill like crazy and it is not easy. When I am upstairs I seem to stand exactly at the spot with the most beautiful view of the old mighty city - the theater! An immense theater that is chopped out of the rocks and it seems lies in the hill itself. And because there was no room for expansion here, they have always raised the terrace so you have to have good nerves to sit there and not fall down. All the way up I admire the beautiful view and even see the Asclepion lying in the distance where I want to go after.

Pergamon:

Pergamon was in ancient times a city in Mysia in Asia Minor, which, after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great, developed into a rich and powerful city. At the height of his power, the empire Pergamon included almost the entire west of Asia Minor (nowadays Turkey), although it was necessary to pay bribes and to take up arms now and then to defend it. After about ten years, even the king's title was officially used.

Pergamon became a center of Hellenistic culture, one of the finest cities in the old world, with a wealth of monumental temples, fountains, gymnasia and other buildings, thanks to the richness and artistry of the princes. The city was located in an area rich in grain, olives, grapes and cattle and was built at an altitude of 335 meters. The three original towns from which Pergamon existed were connected by stairs and terraces, on which covered two-storey corridors were built. On the upper part of the city were the public buildings, such as the agora, the royal palace, the arsenal of weapons, the theater, the temples of Dionysus and Athena Polias and the altar of Zeus which was very famous.

In addition, there was the library, which competed with the famous library of Alexandria. Then Egypt suspended the export of papyrus. Because of this, the parchment was invented as a substitute, which for the first time was made from animal skin on a large scale to serve as writing material, and gradually replaced the papyrus. A considerable part of the books was transferred to Alexandria by Marcus Antonius as compensation for the losses during the civil war. Among them were a gymnasium, the temples of Demeter and Hera Basileia, and the Prytaneion. The lowest part of the city was a multifaceted trade center, where, among other things, perfume, sheets and parchment were made.

A descendant chose a different policy, aimed at the west and at Rome. By asking for Roman intervention against Macedonia, he gradually brought Pergamon under Roman influence, brought Rome into the Greek world and thus de facto put an end to independence. Pergamum became a regional superpower, but remained no more than a pawn in the political chessboard in which Rome led the game and determined the moves. As a loyal ally of Rome, it prevailed in 190 BC. against Antiochus III the Great, and thereby expanded its territory with the coastal areas of its empire. Eumenes II managed to move the Romans again into military action against Macedonia (172 - 171 BC).

The same policy also determined the policy of the successors. In 133 BC. because there could not be ensured a succession that the government was now merged into the great Roman Empire. The independence came to an end. In 25 Tiberius allowed the inhabitants of Pergamon to set up a temple in honor of him and of the senate.

I’m inside the complex and I never saw an entrance. I pass many ruins of temples, palaces and of course the important altar of Zeus. I listen to a tour group that speaks English and hear about the story of the rooster that the library was world famous about - here at the peak some 200,000 pieces were preserved which gave Pergamon a very high social and cultural status - worldwide.

The temple of Trajan is made up of white marble columns and is like a temple from that time should look like. Built in the time that Emperor Trajan and Hadrian led the Roman Empire in honor of God Zeus. You have to have a good imagination to recognize some palaces that once stood here in the heaps of rubble but still this is so much easier than for example in the archeological site of Troy.

I walk quietly between the ruins and foundations to the lower part towards the "middle" city. The gymnasium, an altar and some Roman baths have stood here. If you go down here you can still see the images of a smaller theater, the stadium and an aqueduct. I really thought it was worth it, am glad that I went here and walk, after first searching for the city in the valley.

Asclepion

After seeing a small part of the city again because I had to walk through, I see the sign that brings me to Asclepion - one kilometer outside the city. I pay the admission here (10 mln lira) and come in on the old Roman road that brings me to the site. Flanked by dozens of souvenir stalls, I wove my way to the space where the ceremonies were held in the 1st and 2nd century BC.

This sight is quite different from what I saw this morning - this was a very important medical site. Set up by a man who himself was nursed in Greece and here provided a place with a massage room, mud baths and where people were tried to make better with holy water and herbs. A large column with snakes on it form the actual beginning of the complex after which you can drink a sip of the holy water of Asclepion. By means of an underground tunnel you reach the temple of Telesphorus, a medicine god.

It seems that patients have slept in the temple hoping that this god had a dream that could help the people. During the heyday they did medical research here which form the base for all research till the 16th century. Here too is a small theater and a library. It has been enough for today - I wander off the grounds and go back to my hostel to relax for the rest of the afternoon.

tips & advice (2004)

The bus station (otogar) of Bergama is located in the south of the city center which is a longer relative narrow strip of city. The station is located north of the stadium at the busy Cumhurityet Cad.

Bergama - Izmir: buses run back and forth from and to the big city of Izmir; the trip takes about 2 hours.

Name: Acroteria guest house

Address: Bankalar Caddesi

Price: 25,000,000 Lira

Phone nr. : 633 2469

Content:

The hostel is located in the center but in a very quiet (back) street. Besides the hammam it has a nice terrace outside and a courtyard though the rooms (doubles and singles) are very simply furnished. I have slept here perfect in any case and it is close to the bazaar and the red basilica and in principle you can walk to the sites outside the city and to the big bus station.

If you say that you stay for at least two nights you get a discount.