Pergamon - Another Old Roman City in Turkey

Pergamon - or modern Bergama - is a 2014 addition to the UNESCO World Heritage sites. This is the location of one of the Seven Churches of Revelation that St. Paul addressed with his writings that are included in Revelations. His short messages to the seven congregations were intended to encourage the members in these cities to continue to follow their Christian beliefs so they could be rewarded in the future. We also visited Ephesus, outside of Selcuk and another of the Seven Churches.Pergamon was a small settlement in 300 BCE when a general of Alexander the Great took his war earnings to develop Pergamon to become the center of culture of the Hellenistic period for 150 years. The acropolis of Athens was used as the example for the acropolis of Pergamon. The city was handed to the Romans in 133 BC upon the death of the emperor. One of the famous temples is the Traian Temple, built for the Roman Emperor Trajan. Note that the Romans built temples to people they admired and adored, much like saints for the Catholic Church. This temple was unearthed in 1883.  It is built off the side of the mountain, requiring a sophisticated foundation of porticoes to extend the land for the size of the temple. 

foundation under the temple

looking at the temple and foundation from down the hillside

view of modern Bergama from the acropolis

theater is the steepest in the world at 70 degrees.

There were three gymnasiums in Pergama, each catered to a specific age group from young boys, to young male adults, and then adult males. There is a lot of work being done in the town to reconstruct it with the found objects.

the largest gymnasium in Hellenistic times

another view of one of the gymnasiums

The long history of Pergama meant that materials were reused from century to century. A temple to a god may be converted into a church, and later, a mosque depending on who is ruling the land. Below are Byzantine walls to protect the hilltop town from Ottoman invaders.

What is missing from this archaeological site is a famous temple - the temple of Zeus. This is because Pergama was largely excavated by Germans who took much of what they found back to Germany. the Temple of Zeus is now in the Pergama Museum in Berlin.

Temple of Zeus in Berlin

At the Pergama Museum, we found the usual statues and tablets left over from the German excavations. We also learned a bit more about this area of Turkey and their ornate designs used in clothing and carpets.  But my favorite is always the cemetery headstones and tombs. The most interesting to me were the Ottoman headstones with ornate designs and turbans.

Medusa mosaic floor from Pergama

detailed needlework of the area

Turbans on Ottoman tombstones

Bergama is a conservative modern town. We could find beer only in a  couple of taverns, not in restaurants or grocery stores. The town closed down by 7pm with a few exception specifically for tourists. We stayed at a converted Ottoman House with rooms around a courtyard that had a small, and cold, pool. Our room was round and probably some sort of watch tower.

rooftops of Bergama

many Ottoman era homes were in ruins, but still beautiful

the colors of paint left on the stone wall were interesting