Bergama

Last update September 26, 2026

The Acropolis at Pergamon is located one thousand feet above the present-day town of Bergama and the summit can be reached either by car or by cable car for the last part of the journey. There is a UNESCO World Heritage Site there together with one of the steepest theaters known from antiquity, which has been cut directly into the mountainside and had a capacity for up to ten thousand spectators. Although the famous Pergamon Altar was sent to the museums in Berlin a long time ago, the Temple of Trajan still exists, along with the remains of the sanctuary of Athena and the remnants of a library that had once been regarded as only second to that of Alexandria.

In the present-day town the Red Hall Basilica continues from where the Acropolis ends. This huge temple made of red brick was first constructed as a place of worship for the Egyptian gods, afterwards turned into a Byzantine church, and one of its towers is now used as a mosque. It is situated right in the heart of Bergama’s streets and its walls still exceed the height of the surrounding buildings. There’s no need for a guide to realise the extent of this layering: it has successively been a temple, a church and now a mosque.

The visit to the Asclepion concludes the trip, as it is only a short drive from the Acropolis and in some respects better preserved. It was one of the most respected medical centres of the ancient world, and it is still possible to walk through the sacred tunnel where the healing rituals took place, past the foundations of the sleeping halls and the treatment rooms, into a theatre which had been used for what can be described as therapeutic performances. It is a peculiar and particular kind of history: medicine being treated as ritual long before anyone had separated the two.

People usually regard Bergama as a day trip originating in İzmir or Ayvalık, lying between Çanakkale and Ephesus, and that route is quite satisfactory when you have only a little time. However, the three places in this area, visited within a single afternoon, include more ground—in every way—than the majority of day trips do. For the Acropolis allow about fifteen euros, three euros for the Red Hall and thirteen for the Asclepion, or consider the regional museum pass if you are visiting a number of Aegean sites on this trip.