Dramatic Ancient Pergamon

From Izmir we took the suburban train to Aliaga, then a bus to Bergama to visit the ancient Hellenic city of Pergamon. The dramatic setting of Pergamon high on a steep hill is incomparable. After everything we saw just on this trip, the remains are not very exciting. That's because the Pergamon Altar is in Berlin. Why doesn't Turkey ask the Germans to install a replica in situ, since the Germans must be very keen to keep the original? That would make the site much more dramatic.

In Bergama, we were lucky to have a view of the ruins of Pergamon from our hotel room window.


Here is an artist's conception of what Pergamon may have looked like at its zenith.


The next morning we were also lucky to hitch a ride to the top of the site, saving ourselves a 4km uphill walk. The entrance is at the top. At the bottom there is only an exit. We started our visit of the ruins at the Temple of Trajan where there is an awesome view of the Theater below, and the town farther below. Wow!


Temple of Trajan.


This is a cool panorama shot by Sun-Ling. At the left is the Temple of Trajan, check out the fallen triangular piece of pediment, and to the right is the theatre.


Sun-Ling standing by the base of the Great Altar of Pergamon.


The Theatre is crazy steep, with great views.




We ate our lunch at the Temple of Dionysus which is just north of the Theatre stage.






The Sanctuary of Demeter. Quiet. Lots of wild flowers. The sacred area has a small grandstand (at right in first below) for viewing rites and sacrifices. Just a view days agos we saw a similar setup at a monastery in Armenia; that is, an animal sacrifice area with a few rows of seats nearby. Oh my!




Continuing down, here's the Upper Gymnasium.


After exiting at the bottom of the site we walked a couple of kilometers over to the very ruined Amphitheatre where there was a view back to the top of Pergamon.