18th March: The Akropolis of Pergamum

We woke early, enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the guest house, and set off towards the Akropolis wearing an impressive number of layers. Just two minutes up the hill from the guest house we arrived at a fork in the road. To the right was the start of the telepherique that would bear us up to the top of the Akropolis; to the left the path started to wind up around the hill. Conscious of the continuing need to work off the effects of two months of rich Indian curries, we bore left. The walk was well worth the effort; on our left was a beautiful and wonderfully bucolic valley, and to our right we looked up the hill at the edges of the Graeco-Roman ruins. We had rather underestimated the strength of the sun and the extent of our exertions, and we soon stripped off our fleeces (leaving me to carry them around for the morning). A couple of passing cars offered us a lift, but we insisted on continuing. Eventually we arrived at the summit, 330 metres above sea level and around 260 metres above the town.

Heading up to the Akropolis

Bucolic landscape to our left

The easy way up to the top of the Akropolis

The ancient Akropolis of Pergamum was first mentioned by Xenophon at the start of the 4th century BC. It was ruled over by a series of Hellenistic kings until the 2nd century BC, its most glorious era, at which point it was gifted to Rome in the will of the last king. The city continued to be of great importance in the Roman era, particularly because of the prominence of the nearby sanctuary of Asklepion as a place of healing. The city was subsequently part of the Byzantine empire from the 5th to 14th centuries, after which time it fell under Turkish dominion.

So much for the history lesson. We bought our tickets and entered the archaeological complex. Off to our left stood the Heroon, the remains of temples dedicated to the cult of the Hellenistic kings of Pergamum in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. We strode ahead to the ruins of the temple of Athena, dating from the 4th century BC, where we could see the traces of iron clamps used to bind the foundations. Apparently they were subsequently removed and melted down for military use.

The Heroon, watched over by the telepherique 

Not much remains of the Temple of Athena

Next to the temple stood the 2nd century BC ruins of the famous library of Pergamum, apparently once home to 200,000 documents. When its rival in Alexandria refused to provide papyrus, they learned to write on parchment made from goat's leather, supposedly the first of its kind (we must confess that we have not bothered to authenticate this claim). Following the fire at the great library of Alexandria in 47 BC, Pergamum's entire library was sent to Egpyt by Marc Antony as a gift to Cleopatra. There it was destroyed by another fire.

Sanctuary of Athena and the remains of the Library

In the shadow of the temple of Athena's temple we found the magnificent Theatre of Pergamum, clinging to the hillside at an astonishingly steep angle. It was not quite the Nou Camp, but not far off. Standing above the temple on the other side we could see the white marble columns of the Temple of Trajan. We stepped slowly and cautiously down the 80 rows of andesite stone to the ruins of the terrace that ran for a hundred metres along the bottom of the theatre towards the marble Temple of Dionysus. The temple was originally built of andesite in the 2nd century BC, but was rebuilt in marble by the Romans after a great fire in the 3rd century AD (perhaps after some particularly Bacchanalian celebrations). The theatre's wooden stage (long gone, of course) was moveable so that it would not block the view of the temple except when there was a show.

Theatre and Temple of Trajan in the morning sun

The photos don't really convey how steep the theatre is

The terrace leading to the Temple of Dionysus

With a sigh of laziness we turned around and trudged back up the seemingly vertical steps, then made our way around the top of the theatre towards the Temple of Trajan. This huge edifice was built for the Emperor Trajan and was completed in the reign of Hadrian, during the 2nd century AD. Some of the proud columns had been re-erected during German restoration work, but it wasn't clear whether most or any of them were still standing when the archaeologists moved in.

The ascent

Temple of Trajan

Beneath the Temple of Trajan

We started to head down to hill, reaching the ruins of the Altar of Zeus just below the top of the Akropolis. This was built in the 2nd century BC to celebrate a great victory over the Galatians (to whom St. Paul later wrote an Epistle, apparently). It used to be surrounded by a magnificent high relief frieze depicting the Gigantomachia (battle between the Olympian gods and the Giants), but all that was left for us was the base and a few steps. The whole edifice was pinched by the Germans at the end of the 19th century (in completely different circumstances to the British protection of the Elgin marbles, of course) and can now be seen in Berlin. Just as we were leaving the top of the Akropolis the cursed tour groups were starting to arrive. Thanks to our early start we were spared the worst.

What's left of the Altar of Zeus

Sketch of the frieze that was carried off to Berlin

Arrival of the tour groups

Following a tip from one of the guys who had offered us a lift (he was there to advertise a weaving shop; he also spoke decent French, much to Clem's delight), we wandered further down the slope, among various unidentified ruins, looking for a modern structure that we were told contained some impressive mosaics. After a decent passage of time from the mosaic-overload of Madaba we were ready for some more. Having taken a shortcut through the bushes (with Clem on the lookout for snakes), we arrived at the brick house called Building Z. Not much is known about it, hence the single letter name, but it features fabulous and well-preserved mosaics from both the Roman and the Byzantine periods. The first mosaic we came to had an almost-modern cubist pattern centred around a rather faded depiction of Dionysus in the arms of Silenus. The mosaic also showed the head of the Medusa. This room was separated by several columns from the main hall, the floor of which was also covered in a fine mosaic. At the far end was the highlight, a square mosaic featuring a tiger and a leopard surrounded by numerous theatrical masks.

Keeping an eye out for snakes

Geometric mosaic with Medusa and Dionysus

Room with mask mosaic and frescoes

Building Z was surrounded by several impressive groupings of ruins, well off the beaten track and far from the tour groups. On one side was the 2nd century BC Sanctuary of Hera, on the other the Sanctuary of Demeter, which was built in the 3rd century BC and hosted festivals in honour of Demeter and Persephone that were attended only by married women. Just below was an enormous Gymnasium, built in the 2nd century BC and subsequently enlarged by the Romans. There were three tiers to the Gymnasium: the lowest for children, the middle tier for "lads", and the upper level for grown men. Splitting the middle tier was a long running track.

Sanctuary of Hera

Sanctuary of Demeter

The upper tier of the Gymnasium

We wound our way down to the bottom of the hill, past the remains of the Hellenistic walls (subsequently enlarged by the Byzantines in a futile effort to hold off the Turkish onslaught) and the lower part of the agora. We snuck out through a hole in the fence. Having seen the incredible light of the sunset on the theatre the previous evening, I was determined to return just before closing time (5 p.m.) to take a photo from close by. The guy at the ticket office had told me that my ticket (not cheap, by the way) would not entitle me to return that afternoon if I left the complex; this hole in the fence seemed to me to correct that injustice, so I took note of its location for later.

The old road up to the walls of the Akropolis

We stopped back at courtyard of our guest house for a picnic lunch of bread, cheese, and kofte (a delicious and rather spicy treat), then walked fifty metres down the hill to the largest Roman edifice of ancient Pergamum, the Temple of Serapis. This huge building was constructed during the 2nd century AD under the watch of Hadrian, and is now known as the Red Hall for its 20-metre high walls of red brick.

Entering the Temple of Serapis

Inside the Red Hall

The bricks used to be covered in slabs of marble, but these were scavenged long ago. The roof was supported by caryatids, columns in the form of Egyptian men and women sitting back to back. This detail was pivotal in determining that the temple was devoted to Serapis, and possibly also Isis. At the centre of the temple there used to be a huge statue of the god; we could still see the underground passage through which the priest could crawl into the statue to give lend the god his voice to lecture gullible devotees.

Remains of one of the Egyptian-style caryatids

We walked on through the town, past several 14th and 15th century mosques, towards Asklepion. This famous healing centre of the ancient world, founded in the 4th century BC. stood around a kilometre outside of town, along a road that wound uphill and passed by the less affluent outskirts of modern Bergama. We paid our entrance and followed the Via Tecta (covered to protect the patients from the elements) towards the medical complex.

Old Ottoman houses with the Akropolis in the background

An old mosque

View of the Akropolis from the outskirts of Bergama

Via Tecta, running between Asklepion and the Akropolis

We wandered around the ruins for a while (without really understanding what was what, to be honest) then climbed up the well-restored Roman theatre. A few local boys were spending their Sunday afternoon having a wiggle on the stage to the music from their mobile phones; Clem's presence clearly focused their dance efforts.

Climbing up the ruins

Locals spending their Sunday picking flowers

Approaching the theatre

Check out those moves:

By this point it was around 4 p.m., time for me to hurry back up the Akropolis. Clem decided to leave me to my obstinacy and to stop by the 16th century hammam that had been pointed out to us the previous evening. I hurried back to the guest house and up the hill towards Akropolis. There were a few people sitting by the hole in the fence so I was slightly worried that they were keeping watch, but they said nothing when I ducked through the hole in the fence and headed up towards the walls of the Akropolis. I puffed my way up the slope as fast as I could, past the Gymnasium, Building Z, and the Altar of Zeus. I walked up the steps of the theatre one last time then made my way around to get the view I wanted looking back towards the theatre with Bergama in the distance. Barring my way near the Temple of Trajan was a guard, who said that it was time to leave. I pointed out that there were still few minutes before 5, and eventually persuaded him to let me by. I found myself a perch on the edge of the hill, waited for a couple of Turkish guys to finish taking photos of each other lounging on the steps of the theatre, and finally got the photo I wanted.

Clem's 16th century hammam

The theatre, terrace, and temple of Dionysus, with Bergama in the distance

Theatre and Temple of Trajan in the late afternoon sun

By this point the guard was whistling for me to come over, so I scurried back and out of the entrance. I then ran down the hill back the way we had come up in the morning, past the guesthouse, and through the town (to the great amusement of the locals) to the best spot from which to see the sunset on the Akropolis from a distance. I arrived just in time for the best light, at around 5.45 p.m. In the meantime, Clem had been relaxing in the hammam, enjoying a good scrub down. We met back at the guest house, then left to find ourselves a kebab for dinner.

On the way down

Akropolis in the last light of the sun