Meet at the lobby of your hotel in Izmir or at the airport. The city was a great center of culture, art, philosophy, medicine and science and capital of the rich Pergamum Kingdom. On the ACROPOLIS there are numerous remains including the celebrated Library, the steepest Theatre of Anatolia, the Temples of Trajan and Dionysus, the Cisterns, The Royal Palaces, The Arsenal , the place of the monumental Altar of Zeus famous with the relief of God and devils, the Sanctuary of Demeter, the Gymnasium situated on terraces, the lower Agora. After a delicious lunch with Turkish specialties, you will visit the Medical Center of the ancient world, ASCLEPION where the first psychological Treatment had been used, medical inventions done and which was dedicated to the God of Health, Asclepios and Pergamum Museum. The tour will terminate in Izmir airport or hotel. (L)
Introductions:
Pergamum, perched on a hilltop above the modern town of Bergama, the great acropolis of ancient Pergamum is one of the most dramatic sights in Turkey overlooking down the fertile plains. It was very well defended capital city of rich Pergamum Kingdom between 260 BC and 130 BC. It continued its prosperity during Roman period. Although the majority of its superb intact monuments now sit in Berlin`s Pergamum Museum, enough remains of the acropolis for the visitor to sense the former greatness of the city that once rivaled Alexandria, Ephesus and Antioch in church and commerce, and whose scientific advancements in the field of medicine resonate though the corridors of today`s medical treatment facilities. Juxtaposed sharply against this image of enlightened learning is that of “Satan`s Throne,” as described by the prophet John of Patmos(Revelation 2:12-13, which some scholars interpret as referring to the Great Altar of Pergamum, one of the most magnificent surviving structures from the Greco-Roman world.
