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

Turkey Time

Its been five years since I was in Turkey and there have been alot of changes. Cities are growing and changing with people moving to western Turkey from other regions, and immigrants coming in from Syria and other distressed countries. I noticed more fundamentalist Muslim women with full coverage clothing.  And the tourists were not from Europe or North America as has been the norm, but from China and Korea.  The unrest in the the Middle East is definitely taking its toll on tourism.

wall painting of sultan at a local B&B

Selcuk, the Turk's hometown, has grown substantially the past five years. Whole neighborhoods have been built and more are in construction. The family now lives in modern apartments that they purchased by prepaying most of the price over years before construction was completed. Muslim countries traditionally don't support consumer debt, even for homes.  But Turkey banks have been changing to support some debt when substantial cash is paid up front.  

The family was happy to see us.

Brother Adnan, nephew in law Sulayman, Turk

ana and Turk

borther Ibo, nephew Ali

Ana with 2 of her sons

baby Adnan hanging out with ana

giggly girls - niece Myniver, Sis in law Fatima, ana

And the food was prepared!  Even the Turk did some cooking.

Turkish coffee to start the day!

Getting the food ready

typical breakfast!

Turk making his bean dish

pepper paste drying in the sun

gozeme time and Fatima the master is at work

her assistant - Adnan

apprentice Adnan - grandson

Ibo frying fresh anchovies!

Ayran and beer - typical Turkish drinks!

Nephew Ali and Ayse with their pomegranate orchard 

And then, time to go to the beach! the Aegean Sea called to me after hearing that I'd swam in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. The Aegean really was the best - warmer water and completely sandy beach and sea bottom.

its me on the left - before I started swimming

It was so hot, even the dogs found shade

The Turk played with nephew's son Adnan in the fresh water creek near the shore. 

Eda and Adnan enjoy the sea

the 'men' go for a beer at the beach

Market Day is Saturday! Everyone comes into town and food is everywhere.

dessert! somalina flour with ground nuts

Italy Tidbits

We both enjoyed our adventures in Italy, but the Turk fell in love with Italy. When we got out of the hustle and bustle of Rome and the crazy August tourist influx of the Amalfi coast, we found towns and villages with people who welcomed us as if they had invited us to their home. Food and wine are integral to Italian life, which made me and the Turk quite happy. Mediterranean foods are similar no matter which Med country they come from so the Turk enjoyed his favorite things with an Italian flair: olive oil, tomatoes, olives, beans, fish, lamb and bread.

For me, the beaches were fun to explore and getting to swim in 3 seas was an impromptu and successful objective. The mountain hikes were adventurous and exhilarating.

Here's some things that we noticed, or happened with us in Italy
- Gelato, especially pistachio and hazelnut, was so flavorful you had to eat slowly to absorb all the tastes going on in your mouth.  We suspect the secret to our favorite is to roast the nuts first.

- Apertivo - the Italian happy hour that bridges the afternoon to the 8 or 9pm dinner. The whole festivity around this daily affair, especially in small towns, was fun. I discovered lighter drinks like prosecco with a splash of grapefruit juice which is 'pompelmo' in Italian (fresh of course) and negroni's (i think the secret is a splash of fresh orange juice). The multi-generational gathering at this time was very comforting to see.  And rarely did I see cell phones as the center of attention.

- It seems that Italian men in the cities like to wear their polo shirt collars 'up'. A bit like the 1980's look. Some shirts even had designs on the underside of the collar to show off in this way.

- The Turk bravely maneuvered the new rental car through the streets of Rome to the autostrassa. Ten minutes into our freeway drive, a police car passed us on the left and immediately behind him... a red Ferrari!   of course.

-Driving down a road through some small towns one day, we saw a roundabout just ahead.  But when we got to this location we realized this was just a single road that was built around a WWII bunker!  Later the same day, the road was built around an ancient olive tree.

- In Scafati where we stayed, near Pompeii, the hotel had a beautiful garden beyond the pool.  In the mornings I would practice my yoga in a flat area beside a hedge connecting to the next property. The next door neighbors had a beautiful German Shepard who liked to sit on his side of the hedge and would politely, and quietly, watch me.  When the Turk would show up, the dog would start barking and jumping to make sure the Turk stayed away from me.  This happened every morning!

- Men take care of the children, at least in public. Any time we saw a baby stroller or carriage, the man was pushing it. In restaurants, the men would feed and pay attention to the children. The mothers would look beautiful and enjoy the outing, or the meal. We never saw an exception to this observation!

- There is a cartoon in Italy called Alvin and is based on the Chipmunks, except instead of chipmunks they are little boys. But the stories are just the same.

- In Frosolone the knife museum was closed despite a sign that said the museum would be opening 2 days before then. A gentleman walked by and saw our confusion and said to 'wait'. So we waited about 30 minutes and decided to call the number on the door. I started reading out the phone number to the Turk to dial the phone and a man stuck his head out the window above us saying something in Italian. It seemed like he wanted us to wait.  I looked at the Turk and said - This town is so small, you just SAY the phone number and someone answers!  A few minutes later two women showed up with a key to the museum. When I asked them about the sign that indicated the museum should be open, they said - This is Italy.

- Businesses stay open over lunch, but close from 3-4pm, to open again until 6pm... when you make your way to apertivo.

- No tipping. But we found that restaurants typically added a 2Euro cover charge per person, and would charge for bread. Always a charge for water.

- A popular news program is structured around reading the newspaper headlines. The commentator reads the newspapers to the viewers.

- Driving around Abruzzo to Castel de Monte we passed a house with a sign that seemed to say that cheese was sold there. We stopped and knocked on the door and the woman's adult son showed up and called his mom. After a bit - I think she wanted to get dressed up - she showed up and took us to the back door which opened into a small room with refrigerated counter full of pecorino cheese that she had made.  She indicated her concern that we had no way to refrigerate the cheese. So I showed her our insulated lunch bag and she was happy to sell us some delicious cheese.

- We almost always heard American music in Italian restaurants. In Santo Stefano di Sessanio we found a small 4 table restaurant to get a digestive after dinner at a different restaurant. John Denver was playing in the background.  Our digestive liquors were home made, delicious and soothing. Then the owners started bringing us cookies, small cakes. Small restaurants were often generous with their food and drink.

- Saw Under the Dome on TV one night - dubbed in Italian.

- While we are discovering live edge tables here in the States, they are quite common in Abruzzo.

- Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a medieval village that is also known for their lentils.  We found out that each restaurant grows their own!  and the production is quite low due to the heat and dry conditions - which makes them so tasty.

- Restaurant dishes always had an odd number of items. Bad luck to have even numbers.

Rome's Original Port City - Ostia Antica

Sadly, we had to leave Abruzzo for Rome where we would catch our flight through Greece to Izmir Turkey. Happily, we made enough time to see the largest archaeological site in Europe - Ostia Antica, conveniently located 10 minutes from the airport.  This was the original port of Rome built alongside the Tiber River. This town dates back to 4th century BC.  Over the next five centuries, Ostia grew to become an important city through 3rd century AD.  It was finally abandoned between 9th and 10th centuries during the Christian era when the remaining population moved to a nearby village.  The river had moved and commerce had ended here.

looking down the city streets.

Many floor mosaics to explore. These represented different businesses that were headquartered in Ostia and who's businesses were tied to the port. From the animals you can see that trade with Africa was going on.

 In Roman cities, you always entered through the gates and past the cemetery. Many of the statues on display came from the cemetery. They each represent actual people and are distinctive in their features and clothing.

cemetery plot with niches for family ashes

gymnasium

those are BIG pots for storing olive oil

tomb with theater masks

distinctive look...!

storage

entrance to temple

in the agora and gymnasium areas, the streets were lined with columns