The ruins of the ancient city of Pergamum, once the legendary capital of the Kingdom of Pergamum, lie 1.5 kilometres from the modern Turkish city of Bergam in the province of Izmir. According to ancient Greek myths, the city was founded by the son of Andromache and Helen (brother of Hector, Andromache's first husband), named Pergamum in honour of the Trojan citadel, which was called Pergamum.
The ancient city was located on the coast of Asia Minor and was founded in the 12th century BC by natives of mainland Greece. From 283-133 BC it was the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamum. The city reached its greatest prosperity under Eumenes I (263-241 BC) and Eumenes II (197-159 BC). It was one of the major economic and cultural centres of the Hellenistic world and one of the earliest centres for the spread of Christianity. In the 3rd century the settlement was captured by Gothic tribes, and in 713 it was destroyed by the Arabs. Later the city was rebuilt by the Byzantines, but nevertheless it gradually fell into disrepair and in 1330 it was captured by the Turks. Since then, the buildings of the city, abandoned by the inhabitants, were gradually destroyed until the earth swallowed them almost completely. Only at the end of the century before last, archaeologists excavated and returned to mankind samples of ancient architecture and sculpture, which enriched the expositions of some museums of the world.
Up until the beginning of the 20th century, the inhabitants of the city of Bergam dug up on their plots pieces of marble with traces of sculptural images burned to lime. They did not even realise that they were living on the ruins of a great city of the ancient world. The peasants learnt about its existence only in 1878. That year German engineer Karl Humann was invited to Turkey by the Sultan to build bridges and roads. Having started construction, the German engineer discovered one of the most interesting monuments of Hellenistic art - a huge altar of Zeus. Many large fragments of slabs with reliefs were preserved under the layer of earth. Many valuable finds of Pergamum are now in Berlin in the Pergamon Museum, as well as in the Archaeological Museum of Bergama.
In antiquity, Pergamum was the third largest city after Rome and Alexandria. It owed its wealth and fame to trade, to the presence of fertile land on which olives, grapes, and bread were grown, and to successful breeding of livestock. Pergamum itself produced gold brocade, fine linen and fragrant oils. The city became famous for its magnificent architecture, a huge library that rivalled that of Alexandria, a sculpture museum, scientific schools and a major theatre centre. Today we can experience the atmosphere of this ancient city and see its ruins. Some of the buildings have been preserved quite well.
The Acropolis was located on the top of a hill, where the remains of some private houses, civic buildings and temples were found. This is where the world-famous Library, dating back to the second century BC, the reign of Eumenes II, was located. It was famous for the more than 200,000 precious parchment scrolls it contained. It was second in size only to the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. The constant rivalry between them led to the fact that the ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy, forbade the export of papyrus from the country - at that time the main material for the production of books. The competitors in Pergamum had to think of an alternative material for writing, and they began to use a specialised calfskin, called parchment, which was used for many centuries for writing, along with papyrus and other materials. Later the Pergamon library was destroyed and numerous manuscripts were taken to Alexandria by Mark Antony. For some time the Pergamon library was headed by the scientist Crates of Malos, who is known for being the first to hypothesise the location on the surface of the spherical Earth of four land masses separated by bands of oceans. In 168-165 BC he made a globe on which he marked the four land masses symmetrically arranged in relation to each other.
On the terrace overlooking the ruins of the Library are the ruins of the Temple of Trajan, built between 117 and 118 AD. The beautiful structure was built in honour of the emperor, who was considered one of the gods. The perimeter of the temple has columns: six in width and nine in length. The building is in the Corinthian style. In it were found a sculpture of Emperor Trajan and a statue of his successor Hadrian, under whom the construction of the temple was completed.
Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of another grandiose temple - the Temple of Athena. The front entrance to the temple has been meticulously restored and is on display in the Berlin Museum, where the temple's magnificent portico with its graceful, lightweight double colonnade can also be viewed. This temple was built in the 3rd century BC and was originally decorated with bas-reliefs in the Doric style. The perimeter of the temple is surrounded by the same number of columns as the Temple of Trajan.
Nearby is a theatre dating from the fourth century BC. It is one of the finest monuments of antiquity and an embodiment of the boundless power of human genius. The steeply descending steps of the theatre's grandstands are divided into six sectors at the top and seven at the bottom. At one time, the structure could seat up to 3,500 spectators. Its acoustics are still excellent, so the theatre is still used in summer for performances.
Near the theatre is the Temple of Dionysus, built in the 2nd century BC and rebuilt by Caracalla after a fire destroyed the original structure. In the 2nd century BC, a large marble altar to Zeus was erected in honour of the victory over the Galatians. The ruins of the altar were taken to Berlin and professionally reconstructed there. Today they are kept in the Pergamon Museum. The altar used to be a platform of snow-white marble, three walls of which were decorated with a marble relief band. A staircase on the fourth wall led up to a platform surrounded by columns with a marble altar in the centre. Together with the altar, the magnificent frieze depicting the battle between the gods and the giants was transported to Berlin. The frieze reliefs are rightly considered the best sculptural masterpieces of Pergamum.
Among the other structures located around the Acropolis hill, the ancient thermae and gymnasium attract attention. The latter was an educational institution for noble boys and was built on different levels, connected by underground passages and wide staircases.
The monumental ruins of the Red Basilica, otherwise known as the Red Court, rise at the base of the castle hill, near where the Bergama Kaik River flows. This name of the temple is explained by the bright red colour of its brick walls. The two underground galleries of the building served to channel the waters of the ancient Selinus. The temple was built in the second century under Hadrian and dedicated to the cult of Serapis. During the period of Byzantine influence, the temple was transformed into a basilica.
The ruins of the Asklepium, by far the most famous temple of Pergamum, are reached by a Sacred Road once surrounded by columns. The structure is dedicated to the cult of the healer god Aesculapus and predates the Romans. The building was founded in the fourth century BC and was a Pergamon healing centre. The inscription on it read: "In the name of the gods, death is forbidden". Patients were treated here with healing waters, took baths in bronze pools, entrusted their bodies to skilful masseurs, who with the help of fragrant rubs gave former strength to their weakened muscles. Patients rested on stone benches located in the galleries of the sanatorium. Under their arches were hidden secret openings, through which the voices of invisible doctors-psychotherapists were heard. They advised the patients to forget about their illnesses and sorrows, not to think about physical suffering, to suppress the disease with the power of their spirit. Thanks to this, the doomed had hope for healing and their body coped with the disease itself. According to written sources, the founder of the Pergamon hospital was a citizen named Archias. The local physician Galen, famous for his unrivalled eloquence, became particularly famous as a healer in the 2nd century BC. He first treated only gladiators, and then anyone who needed help, using the "method of self-hypnosis". Patients came to him from all over the world, and gradually Asklepios became a small town with several temples and a hall for medical consiliums.
