Pergamon Archaeological Site

The Hellenistic capital of Pergamon rivaled Alexandria as a center of learning. The Acropolis, theater, and Asklepion (healing sanctuary) show Greek culture's eastern florescence. Wine featured in both medical treatments at the Asklepion and theatrical performances at one of the steepest ancient theaters.

What to do there

3 things to do

1. 1 Sit in the Steepest Theater in the Ancient World History · Price: moderate

   10,000 seats carved into a mountainside 1,000 feet above the Caicus River valley - where wine festivals were held

   The theater at Pergamon is one of the steepest in the ancient world - 10,000 seats carved directly into the mountainside at a near-vertical angle, giving a view across the Caicus River valley below where the Attalid Dynasty grew its wheat and wine from 281-133 BCE. Dionysiac performances - theater, music, wine festivals - were performed here for 400+ years. The valley you see below fed the most sophisticated Hellenistic kingdom of the era, one that patronized art, scholarship, and wine production simultaneously. Take the cable car up to Pergamon Acropolis (Bergama, €15 admission) and find the highest row in the theater. Look straight down at the angle of the seating, then out across the valley. This is what 20,000 ancient spectators saw during Dionysian wine festivals. Count the rows from top to bottom - there are approximately 78.

   Backup: The Temple of Trajan on the acropolis summit is better preserved than most people expect.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Find Where the Attalid Dynasty Stored Its Wine Wine · Free

   The kingdom's wealth came from three sources: silver, grain, and wine

   The Attalid Dynasty of Pergamon (281-133 BCE) financed their legendary library, their sculptural program, and their military campaigns from three revenue streams: silver mines in the mountains, fertile Caicus River valley agriculture (grain AND wine), and trade through their port at Elaea. This was not incidental wine production - it was industrial-scale agriculture funding a cultural golden age. When Attalus III died in 133 BCE, he left his entire kingdom (including all the wine lands) to Rome. The Roman Republic became the world's largest wine producer partly because they inherited Turkey. At the Red Hall Basilica (Kızıl Avlu) in the lower city of Bergama (€3 admission), find the panel about the Attalid kings. Count the rulers: Philetaerus (281-263 BCE), Eumenes I, Attalus I, Eumenes II, Attalus II, Attalus III. Six rulers across 150 years building one of the ancient world's most sophisticated cities on wine revenue.

   Backup: The Asklepion (healing sanctuary, €13) included wine in its medical treatments - the sacred spring there is still accessible.

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3. 3 Read the Dionysus Relief Before It Disappears Adventure · Price: moderate · Optional

   The Pergamon altar in Berlin is famous - the fragments that stayed in Turkey are less crowded

   The Great Altar of Pergamon - one of the most spectacular pieces of Hellenistic sculpture ever made - was taken to Berlin in the 19th century and sits in its own museum there. What remained in Bergama are the fragments too heavy or too fragmented to transport. The Bergama Archaeological Museum (in the modern town, 1km from the cable car base, small admission fee) has Dionysiac reliefs, drinking vessels, and sculptural fragments from the acropolis excavations that tell the wine story of the Attalid court. Ask the museum staff: 'Where are the Dionysus artifacts?' Find the relief carvings with grape and vine motifs - they appear on architectural fragments from the acropolis buildings. Look carefully at the carving quality. Pergamon's sculptors were among the finest in the ancient world.

   Backup: If the museum is closed, the town of Bergama itself has Ottoman-era buildings and a traditional bazaar where local agricultural products including wine-producing grapes are sold in season.

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Insider tips

• Cable car to Acropolis available

• The theater is vertiginous

• Asklepion is a separate site

• Allow time for both Acropolis and Asklepion