Bergama (Pergamum) Sights

Sights in Bergama (Pergamum)

  1. Acropolis

    The road up to the Acropolis winds 5km from the Red Basilica, around the northern and eastern sides of the hill, to a car park at the top.

    Blue dots mark a suggested route around the main structures which include the library, as well as the marble-columned Temple of Trajan (built during the reigns of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian and used to worship them as well as Zeus). It's the only Roman structure surviving on the acropolis and its foundations were used as cisterns during the Middle Ages.

    The vertigo-inducing, 10,000-seat theatre is impressive and unusual. Its builders decided to take advantage of the spectacular view and conserve precious building space on top of t…

    reviewed

  2. A

    Archaeology Museum

    Right in the centre of town, the Archaeology Museum boasts a small but substantial collection of artefacts for so small a town. Look out for the sculptures from Pergamum, influenced by the Afrodisias school, which was known for its expressive features and lavish detailing. Look out also for the model of the Altar of Zeus (the original is in Berlin).

    reviewed

  3. B

    Red Basilica

    The cathedral-sized Red Basilica was originally a temple to the Egyptian gods Serapis, Isis and Harpocrates built in the 2nd century AD. In Revelations, St John the Divine wrote that this was one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse, singling it out as the throne of the devil.

    reviewed

  4. C

    Asclepion

    An ancient medical centre, the Asclepion was founded by Archias, a local citizen who had been cured at the Asclepion of Epidaurus (Greece). Treatments included massage, mud baths, drinking sacred waters and the use of herbs and ointments. Diagnosis was often by dream analysis.

    reviewed

  5. Hacı Hekim (Çarşı) Hamamı

    Situated near the Kulaksız Cami is Hacı Hekim (Çarşı) Hamamı, a mens only bath house.

    reviewed