About 250km (155 miles) south of Çanakkale; 240km (about 149 miles) north of Izmir
A lack of modern accommodations has turned Bergama into a stop, look, and leave destination -- that is, if visitors bother to come at all. But this modern town is worth an overnight stopover given its village feel and numerous ruins, including two of the country's most celebrated archaeological sites: the Acropolis and the Asklepion of ancient Pergamum (also written as Pergamon), both listed among the top 100 historical sites on the Mediterranean.
Most of the extraordinary buildings and monuments date to the time of Eumenes II (197-159 B.C.), including the famed library, the terrace of the spectacularly sited hillside theater, the main palace, the Altar of Zeus, and the propylaeum of the Temple of Athena. The ancient city is composed of the Acropolis, whose main function was social and cultural as much as it was sacred; the Lower City, or realm of the lower classes; and the Asklepion, one of the earliest medical and therapeutic centers on record.
A Look At The Past -- The old city of Pergamum dates back to the 12th century B.C. but saw its first notable era of prosperity under Lydian King Croesus in the 6th century B.C. Pergamum briefly fell under Persian control but was wrestled back into Hellenistic hands in 334 B.C. by Alexander the Great. While Alexander was out conquering other lands, Anatolia was left in the hands of his general, Lysimachus, who had entrusted his war chest to the hands of Philataerus, commander of Pergamum. On Lysimachus's death, Philataerus founded a ruling dynasty with the late general's riches, and was succeeded by his nephew, Eumenis I. Eumenis II is credited with bringing the empire to its height, ushering in a period of economic, cultural, and artistic expansion in the 2nd century B.C. When Attalus III, the last of the ruling Attalid dynasty, died, his ambiguous testament was interpreted by Rome as carte blanche for the Romans to come in and take over. Under the Romans, Pergamum reclaimed a measure of its former greatness, but the town was all but forgotten once the Ottomans took control.
