During the Attalid dynasty, Pergamum was the most splendid city in Asia Minor. The more impressive site is the Acropolis sight. Remains of temples, palaces, agoras and gymnasia are scattered on the stunning hilltop terrain, all facing to modern Bergama. Recent years, the Temple of Trajan has partially rebuilt. It stands above a remarkable theater hewn into the steep hillside. Pergamum’s old library used to be housing 200,000 books, it was the second in importance only to Alexandria’s library. The books were made of the treated animal skin which is called parchment, was invented at Pergamum.

 

The Red Basilica used to be Temple sites for the Egyptian gods on the skirts of the Acropolis hillside. The Byzantines converted it into the Basilica of St. John the Apostle; later a small mosque added to one of its towers.

 

Though Pergamum’s most important findings reside at the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. Here in Bergama, there’s a good little archaeological museum which houses many votive offerings to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. This Asclepion site is located on the southern outskirts of Bergama. It was one of the ancient world’s leading medical centers in the 2nd century AD.