Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape
This site rises high above the Bakirçay Plain in Turkey’s
Aegean region. The acropolis of Pergamon was the capital of the
Hellenistic Attalid dynasty, a major centre of learning in the ancient
world. Monumental temples, theatres, stoa or porticoes, gymnasium, altar
and library were set into the sloping terrain surrounded by an
extensive city wall. The rock-cut Kybele Sanctuary lies to the
north-west on another hill visually linked to the acropolis. Later the
city became capital of the Roman province of Asia known for its
Asclepieion healing centre. The acropolis crowns a landscape containing
burial mounds and remains of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires in
and around the modern town of Bergama on the lower slopes.